The Vigilante
by Cammiebar
Summary: AU and probably OOC. Bad neighborhood. Crime in the streets. And a mysterious masked hero emerging. Can this citizen make a difference or is this city going to bring a vigilante's demise? Multiple chapters. Sporadic coarse language (mainly from Alvin), sexual suggestions and some violence. Rated T TxE AxB SxJ **On Hiatus Until Sometime in August**
1. Chapter 1

If it was a normal high school in a quiet small town in the middle of any upper class area, the arrival of three new students would have been some big news. But in a large high school of over a thousand students, in the middle of a crime ridden and economically depressed city, the arrival was far from buzz-worthy. Even the school's central gossip queen, Brittany Miller, couldn't care less and hadn't even heard of the arrival until third period. But the non-stop chatter and constant note-passing from her had taken a back seat to her new interest—herself.

Her friends had noticed with some exasperation that she seemed to be spending a lot of time powdering her nose in her compact, or at least that was what it looked like to them. Rather, she was lost in thought about an event that had taken place not more than a week ago. This one instance had her considering her mental wellbeing quite furiously and each missing article in the newspapers or lack of story on the evening news just seemed to cement the idea into her head that she was simply going crazy.

"Brittany," Eleanor whispered to her, tapping her eldest sister on the shoulder. "Brittany," Eleanor hissed again, tapping a little harder. With quick movements, Brittany snapped her compact shut, sat up straighter, wide blue eyes looking forward at the white board. Once realizing she wasn't in trouble by the teacher, she slumped her shoulders forward a bit and turned to glare at her youngest little sister who was sitting behind her.

"What?" Brittany hissed back at her.

"Have you figured out what to do yet?" Eleanor continued in the same hushed whisper, glancing at the teacher nervously.

"About what?"

Eleanor blinked a moment, taken aback. It wasn't the first time that Brittany snapped at her, but she was surprised that her eldest had forgotten the problem so quickly. Eleanor knew that Brittany had been acting a little strangely since she had gotten home from her secret-then-but-not-so-secret-now date last weekend, but she didn't think that Brittany would forget something so important.

After a few more moments of silence and a quick angel act for the teacher, who turned to face his classroom of disinterested students, Brittany turned around and hissed a reply. "I'm working on it! We still have plenty of time."

Eleanor rolled her eyes and placed them on the clock on the wall. Fifteen more minutes until the end of third period and the start of fourth. She sighed and looked at the high, auburn pony tail that Brittany liked to wear. Her pink designer top almost hide the fading bruise on Brittany's back, but not quite. Shaking her head slowly, Eleanor knew that the bruise was the reason that they were in their particular trouble now.

It didn't hurt anymore and Brittany had to keep reminding herself that it was still there. But it was plenty of evidence for Ms. Miller, the girl's adoptive parent, to know that Brittany had broken the rules and ended up in a dangerous situation. Well, that bruise and the fact that Brittany was escorted home by the cops. What started as simple teenage rebellion and a quick date with one of the hottest guys in school turned into a near rape and a strange truth that only Brittany knew and kept doubting herself about.

Darren Watkins had asked Brittany out on a date. Disregarding the old rule that all three girls had to go out together and only during the day, Brittany had snuck out of the house. The date went well and was much more innocent than what anyone in the school had begun to gossip about on Monday, thanks to Darren. On her way home, however, Brittany was jumped by a gang of drop-outs. Of course, being Brittany Miller, she fought back, but one girl is no match for five guys. Just when she felt that all hope was lost, things became…interesting.

A hit to the head and the trauma of the situation was enough for anyone to start to imagine things in a better light. Perhaps it was her imagination. Perhaps she was just weak, and couldn't stand to bare the truth that she had lost something she would never have again. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it really happened. A guy in a full face black motorcycle helmet had jumped into the fray, kicked the living crap out of the gang, helped her to the nearest store, and then left without saying a word.

Or perhaps she was just crazy.

Once again, Brittany stared blankly into her compact mirror that had somehow came back into her hand. There was no way some random guy was going around, saving women in their time of need. And it seemed as if no one else knew about it or even heard about anything like it since there were no other signs of this wackos existence. She thought to what her other sister, Jeanette, would say about strange situations. Brittany furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to remember. It was something like the simplest answer is usually the right one. 'Well,' she thought, 'what is more likely? Being…raped…or being saved by a masked man?' Brittany sighed.

The bell went off and all the students began to scurry out of the classroom as quickly as they could. Brittany caught on and began to put her pink pen and compact away into her purse, gathered her notebook into her arm and stood up. She glanced to see Eleanor staring at her. "What?" Brittany snapped.

Eleanor shrugged and the two left the classroom to head to their lockers. Once books were exchanged and doors were shut, Eleanor reached out and stopped Brittany from walking away. "I don't see you for the rest of the day. Seriously, what's the plan?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "We fly," she muttered sarcastically, directing her eyes down the hall and away from her sister.

"Brittany," Eleanor persisted.

With a haughty sigh in frustration, Brittany flipped her pony tail back over her shoulder, shrugged and looked directly into Eleanor's eyes. "What do you think? Jeanette is sick and can't come to school. So she obviously won't be going to the dance. We can't go unless Jeanette comes with us, and Ms. Miller has been more Nazi about the rules than ever before. So I don't know, okay!?"

Eleanor looked like she was about to reply when she was interrupted. "Brittany!" a voice cried. Both girls looked to find a petite, popular blonde running down the hall, dodging students and ignoring the shouts from teachers. "Oh my God, Britt, you've gotta see them!" She cried out as she got closer.

"See who?" Brittany spoke nonchalantly, pulling out a nail file.

The blonde bounced once, her long hair swaying with her movements and she glanced up at the ceiling with a large grin on her face. "The new guys, duh! One is totally fine with a capital 'F'."

"Well, excuse me and my excitement, but I think I'll pass," Eleanor muttered to herself. Brittany glared at Eleanor for her rude behavior and reminded herself to talk with Eleanor about her attitude towards most of the male students. She was never going to get a date that way, no matter how good she was at sports.

"More for us, then," the blonde muttered back. "Look, I just had class with them and they are coming this way!" she spewed out, turning her eyes back the way she had come from and indicating with her head.

Brittany followed the direction with her eyes, as well as Eleanor, who was now showing her curiosity. Coming up the hallway, walking around the other students, and obviously into their own conversation with each other, were the three new students. One was shorter than the other two with blond hair in a cute, boyish hairstyle wearing a green tee-shirt, faded blue jeans, and blue sneakers. The tallest of the three had dark brown, shaggy hair, glasses, a blue hoodie, dark blue jeans, and red sneakers. The third of the group was the one that definitely caught Brittany's attention and who she automatically knew was the one labeled as 'fine'. He had light brown hair gelled up into spikes, a white tee-shirt with a red button-up over it, acid wash jeans and green sneakers. He had a mischievous smile on his face as he walked in the center of the other two.

"Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. They're in my third period with me and they're brothers—triplets. Just like you and your sisters!"

Brittany was still watching the three as they came nearer to her. Mr. Fine was taking brief moments to wink or smile a very charming smile at passing girls while Mr. Glasses obviously rolled his eyes and Mr. Shorty simply tried to keep up on their conversation, but seemed like he was either going to throw a fit at Mr. Fine or just give up at any moment.

"So," Eleanor breathed out quietly. She looked at the popular blonde and leaned in to speak since the boys were getting closer. "Which one is which?"

The blonde turned towards Eleanor and smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know," she sneered, still not over Eleanor's earlier behavior.

"Tell us, Madison." Brittany shook her head to get herself back into her own attitude. There was no way she would have admitted to wanting to watch Mr. Fine all day, let alone that she felt an instant attraction. The boys passed by them, Glasses almost stumbling a little as Fine leaned over to give Brittany a wink and smile before continuing on.

"The tall nerd is Simon. Believe me, the guy just screams nerd when he opens his mouth. Luckily he didn't do it too often. The shortest one is Theodore. Totally cute and very friendly. I think he's friends with just about everyone he's met so far. The other one," Madison paused to look Brittany in the eye, "is Alvin. Flirted with me the entire period."

Brittany straightened up and stared blankly at her friend. It was just like the little blonde to boast about something like that. She had yet to learn to be subtle in her flirting and not to try and one-up Brittany Miller when it came to boys. Not only was Brittany the most known gossip queen in the entire school, knowing every little piece of dirt to know, she was also the one who got the guy. That is, if she wanted him.

"Maddy, I'm worried that you'll get into trouble like you always do with guys like that. Doesn't look that special to me. Looks like trouble instead." Brittany continued to file her nails, muttering to herself to show how uncaring about the boys she could be.

"Who looks like trouble?"

Brittany, Eleanor, and Madison quickly turned to see a tall girl with glasses, chocolate brown hair pulled into a very messy bun, baggy purple sweater and blue skirt standing behind them. She looked miserable with puffy eyes, red nose, and flushed face. The girl was very sick and probably should have stayed home. "Jeanette!?" Brittany and Eleanor exclaimed. Jeanette nodded, pulling out a tissue and blowing her nose a little. Madison sneered and mumbled a goodbye before running off.

The girls stared after Madison before making their own way to their next classes or, for Jeanette, her first. "What are you doing here? You're sick!" Eleanor exclaimed.

"I know," Jeanette gave a weak smile and spoke in a small but very congested voice. "But an absence from school today means I can't go to the dance tonight." She blew her nose again and looked at her sisters in turn. "I know you girls want to go."

"Oh, Jeanette!" Brittany smiled, giving her little sister a quick hug before pulling away to see who out of the school saw her show her nerdy sister some affection. "You are the best."

Jeanette was about to say something else when Eleanor put her arm out to stop her sisters. There, ahead of them at a hallway intersection, were the boys. Jeanette looked to her sisters in confusion as the other two simply looked intensely.

The boys were talking hurriedly with each other before waving goodbyes. It looked like Alvin was heading towards the gym, Theodore to the science wing, and Simon was coming back down the hallway towards the girls with quick steps. Jeanette watched the new boy come towards her and her sisters, suddenly not hearing any of the noise in the hall but very aware of her increasing heartbeat, nervous flutter in her stomach, and very light breathing. She kept her watery green eyes on him as he passed. And, what surprised her the most, was that his eyes seemed to connect with hers for a few seconds, enough for him to have to look over his shoulder at her.

"Who was that?" Jeanette muttered after losing sight of him, getting her heartbeat under control and becoming aware that her sisters were trying to get her attention.

"One of the new boys," Eleanor smiled at her.

"He has very pretty eyes," Jeanette mumbled.

"And they say that he," Brittany said pointing in the direction that Simon went, "is a nerd. C'mon, we're going to be late."

Eleanor began to follow Brittany until she had to split off towards her own classroom, while Jeanette slowly made her way, still looking back. She couldn't believe she had become that interested in a boy that quickly. When the late bell rang, Jeanette gasped and began to run to her class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, fellow Alvin and the Chipmunks fanfiction readers. I'm actually pretty new to this kind of thing and really learning how to use the system, so I didn't post anything on the last chapter for warnings and whatever. So, here's what I need to say.**

**1. The story starts out pretty slow.**

**2. It's an alternate universe.**

**3. I, personally, see them as humans in this. If you want chipmunks, go ahead and imagine them that way. Readers have liberty to do so.**

**4. I don't own anything and claim no rights to anything. The chipmunks and chipettes, as we all know, belong to their creators. As for the story, I won't claim to own it. I came up with it. But there are a lot of good fanfiction authors on this site and if they think they can do greater justice or make this story even better, then have at it. Just let me read it when you're done!**

**5. When there is music, imagine what song(s) you think would fit. I don't like to write out lyrics from popular songs and I'm barely talented enough to write stories, let alone music lyrics. But I can tell you, I have my own songs figured out when I write the story. **

**So things start to get a little bit more...intense for this chapter. Hopefully, I've done one of the scenes justice, but I'm not too sure. Enjoy!**

Eleanor could not believe how great her afternoon had gone. Every class after lunch was very enjoyable and it wasn't just because they were all her favorite classes. The teachers were all in great moods, the other students were still profuse in their compliments about her athletic skill in the last track meet, and she made a brand new friend. Theodore Seville, he introduced himself as, was as friendly as that popular girl made him out to be and he was in every class of hers in the afternoon. He had many of the same interests as her and made a great batch of cookies while they were in Home Economics. The best part was that by the end of the day, both he and Eleanor had quickly picked up a very comfortable friendship. And, to her chagrin at having to admit to herself against all her previous statements about high school guys, he was incredibly adorable and very unassuming.

She was humming to herself as she and her sisters walked home. Eleanor would have been even happier if she wasn't so concerned about Jeanette's current state in health and if she wasn't so distracted with Brittany's griping about Theodore's older brother, Alvin. In between her own musings and concern for Jeanette, Eleanor was able to gather that Brittany thought that Alvin was self-centered, egotistical, and a straight up 'narcissist', or whatever the word was that Jeanette used to help Brittany berate Alvin.

"He dared to tell me—me!—Brittany Miller, that I wouldn't be able to land a dance with anyone better than him tonight. Ha! He doesn't know who he's messing with. I can't wait to see his jaw drop on seeing all the guys just lining up for even half a dance with me. And those guys' are way better than him."

"Brittany," Jeanette sniffled, "don't let him get to you. You just hurt his feelings and he was just lashing out. Maybe he wasn't so popular back in his old school and is trying to fit in. Must be hard, going to a new school."

Brittany scoffed and turned to face Jeanette. "Please. An old dog can't learn new tricks. I bet he was always like that."

Eleanor giggled at remembering something that Theodore said about his brothers at this point. As soon as she did, though, she bit her lip. Brittany was glaring daggers are her. "I wasn't laughing at you, Brittany!" Eleanor tried to backtrack as they turned the corner and began to walk down their street.

The buildings in the neighborhood were very beautiful once, probably. Now, most were fallen into disrepair. The road was littered with potholes and many window shutters were hanging off their hinges or missing while paint cracked or peeled off the sides of buildings and fences. Luckily, the street housed many good families that just tried to make things work out for themselves and their loved ones. And the street was only very noisy during the summer when the kids would decide to play some sort of sport out there. But about a block up the road was another matter entirely.

"I don't see anything else to laugh about, Ellie!" Brittany continued on.

"I was talking with Theodore today. He told me about his brothers. He just made it seem like Alvin was always a downright flirt. So I was just giggling that you were able to figure it out. That's all."

Brittany gave Jeanette a triumphant grin just as Jeanette let out a huge sneeze. The grin quickly faded as Brittany stared sympathetically at her younger sister. Jeanette looked up at her sisters while blowing her nose before setting her eyes on Eleanor. "Who's Theodore?"

"One of the other new guys," Eleanor commented.

"I still don't know anything about them," replied a very meek voice.

Eleanor gave Brittany a knowing smile which Brittany returned. They saw the look on Jeanette's face earlier that day and purposely avoided giving Jeanette any information about the three boys, including the one that made Jeanette speechless with a blush that was, to them, noticeably different from her flushed, feverish face. The girls considered to tell Jeanette, speaking to each other with their eyes, but just as they had almost reached a decision, they were walking through their gate and up the stoop and into their house.

The building was two stories, but was rather small. There was a kitchen, living room, water closet, and a make-shift bedroom that used to be a dining room on the first floor. Up the stairs was a full bathroom and three bedrooms. Ms. Miller had decided that once the girls reached high school that they should have their own rooms and thus, fixed up the old dining room into her own bedroom. The girls did protest, and even Jeanette and Eleanor told her that they didn't mind sharing a room, but Ms. Miller had wanted to give her girls something special on their entry into high school, since she wasn't able to give them birthday gifts that year. Ms. Miller also said that climbing the stairs was becoming too much of a chore for her, since she was getting pretty old.

"Ms. Miller, we're home!" the girls cried out. A quick check of the downstairs soon proved to the girls that their guardian had probably picked up extra hours at work, and a note on the kitchen counter soon confirmed it.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders and went to climb the stairs. "I'm starting to get ready for the dance." Eleanor agreed and looked over to Jeanette. Jeanette was reaching into a cupboard that held their random first aid and medications. She was obviously looking for cold medicine and Eleanor didn't begrudge her for it.

The school gym was packed. The lights were dimmed and the music was loud. That was just how Brittany liked her school social functions, although she often thought that decorations or the presence of the teachers were major downers. She had took longer than usual to pick out the perfect outfit, the perfect hairstyle and the perfect application of make-up, but she had something to prove to the new boy and she would do everything in her power just to achieve her goal. Unfortunately, she had to use her second pick for outfit since her first gave everyone a good view of her bruise.

Her sisters were less picky about their appearance. Eleanor had put in an effort with light make-up and a very straight forward hairstyle, and she looked good. Jeanette, sick as a dog and very tired, simply put on something nice. She had decided that she would go to the dance, but she would probably spend the majority of it sitting down and waiting for it to be over.

The girls entered the gym and soon went their own ways. Eleanor went to her friends from her variety of sports teams and Brittany meandered her way to the popular clique. Jeanette simply found an unoccupied seat away from the lights and pounding music, complete with a packet of tissues.

Nothing special happened during the first half of the dance. Eleanor and Theodore met up and seemed to be having a great time talking with each other and everyone else. Brittany was the star of the dance, and everyone had to admit it. She was even happier since she could swear that she saw Alvin do a double-take when he saw her. Every guy wanted to dance with her and all the girls wanted to know where she got her dress. But halfway through was when the mood had changed. Brittany first felt it when she saw Eleanor standing by herself.

Not wanting to appear like she was worried about her less popular little sister, Brittany excused herself and made a bee-line towards Eleanor. "What's wrong?" she managed to ask over the music. "Why are you alone?"

Eleanor shrugged. "All my friends are dancing. And Theodore just disappeared. I have no idea."

"Some nerve," Brittany huffed. Then, the music turned off and the principal began to speak into a microphone at the front of the stage.

"I hope everyone is having a good time tonight," Principal Conklin said as he looked around at the students, smiling at their cheers and clapping. "It turns out, we have a band that is attending our school that used to be very popular when you all were younger. We asked them to sing a song or two for us, and it will give you all a chance to get to know these students a little bit better. So, without further ado, please give a resounding welcome to the band, The Chipmunks!"

The applause was okay. It wasn't anything amazing until the crowd saw Alvin and his two brothers walk out on to a small stage that the DJ had been on. Previously, the stage simply had the DJ's equipment on it. Now it had three microphones, a drum set, a keyboard, bass guitar and an electric guitar, all from the music room. The music teacher stationed herself at the keyboard, while Theodore sat behind the drums and began to tinker with it. Simon took hold of the bass and strummed out a few notes, followed by Alvin with the guitar.

Eleanor mumbled something about Jeanette and left the gym to find her while Brittany held on to an amused smile and crossed her arms. She had serious doubts, as did most of the students, that these three really were famous. And most had never even heard of The Chipmunks. This was all just a huge stunt.

Alvin made a quick greeting, smiled his charming smile, and explained that they would be singing three songs, each boy having a chance to sing lead just so the students would be able to get to know them better. With that, Alvin strummed a quick chord and music filled the room. It wasn't long before the entire gym was filled with cheers and the smile had completely vanished from Brittany's face.

She remembered this song. It was her favorite as a kid.

Eleanor was soon next to Brittany again with Jeanette, still miserably sick, right at her side. The three girls listened as Alvin went through his song. Then Theodore had his, and Eleanor and Jeanette were pleasantly enjoying themselves. By Simon's song, which was purposely picked by Alvin just to embarrass his brother, the two girls were rocking out. Brittany had never lost her stunned look.

After the three songs, the boys thanked the crowd and walked off the stage, helping to remove the equipment. Then the dance proceeded as before. "I can't believe it," Brittany muttered to herself over and over again.

"Who would have known they were The Chipmunks! I loved their songs. Too bad I couldn't remember who sang them," Eleanor commented enthusiastically.

Jeanette just smiled and nodded, once again watching the tall boy with glasses as he helped out his brothers with the stage. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and she felt the nervous fluttering in her stomach again. It was the second time that just the sight of him caused her to do that. Once he was out of sight, she just shook her head, decided that it was just a physical attraction to something that he had, and went to run away from the pounding music again. Her head was throbbing.

When the dance ended, Brittany still couldn't believe that Alvin could sing like that. She just dodged him the rest of the night. Eleanor was happy to talk with Theodore about the performances, but all three girls were more than ready to go home.

They walked through the streets quietly. They were either too sick, too happy, or too annoyed to make any type of conversation and they were more than content with letting the silence of the city surround them. Cars passed by, people talked loudly, some shouted, police sirens in the distance, and the occasional cry from a baby was the most silent that the city got. After five minutes of walking, Jeanette checked her watch and gasped.

"Five minutes until curfew!" she exclaimed through a congested nose.

"Ms. Miller isn't even home. We'll be fine," Brittany waved off the warning.

"Um, Brittany? Ms. Miller said that she'll be home before the dance ended," Eleanor put in.

Brittany stopped dead and stared incredulously at her sisters. "What!?"

"In her note, Brittany. She said she would definitely be home by 9:30. It's almost 10 o'clock now."

Brittany groaned. If they were late, after last weeks' fiasco, they could kiss going anywhere after the sun went down goodbye. She looked left and then right. Her eyes narrowed on the street to her right. "Then we'll take the shortcut."

"But Brittany," Jeanette grabbed her sister's arm to stop her from moving, pointing down the street, "we can't go that way. You know it's dangerous that way!"

"You got a better idea, Jeanette? We go the long, safe way home and then we're late for curfew and then we get grounded and are stuck inside the house until we graduate from college. If we go this way, then we get home on time. But only if we move now!" Brittany pulled Jeanette with her and Eleanor timidly followed behind.

This street that lead directly to an intersection near their house was the most dangerous in their neighborhood. The girls could see an old warehouse just half a block from them that was home to the neighborhood gang. They were always there, doing all sorts of drugs, fighting, and stealing. They were a real eyesore for the community and the cops had seemed to almost give up fighting them. It wasn't as if they were the worst gang in the city, but they kept themselves just quiet enough to make the cops want to go after the other gangs and they kept themselves just strong enough to keep their activities going.

Brittany marched on, keeping her eyes straight ahead and her feet moving quickly. She could feel her sister's fears as they walked behind her and the occasional call of her name in a plea for them to just turn around was the only sound that Brittany could hear. But her mind was made up. All they had to do was just make it a block and a half past the warehouse and they would be at their street and then at their house, safe and sound and not grounded.

The building was on their side now. They all could feel eyes watching them from the busted windows, but they kept on walking. It was too late to turn around now. A few more steps, and the building would be behind them and a clear road would open up in front of them. Brittany was breathing sighs of relief.

Until the scream.

Brittany whipped her head around to see that Jeanette was being held from behind, a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream. Eleanor's eyes were wide and was about to run to her sister's aid when a second and third member got to her. 'Man, they sure know how to pick out the weakest ones first,' Brittany thought to herself as she whipped her head around only to find her own two captors coming down on her.

She dodged as best as she could, tripping a little bit in her heels. She called out as loud as she could and continued to try and dodge the gang members and get to her sisters. She called out again, trying hard to evade more members and noticing her sisters being pulled into the alley between the warehouse and an abandoned building. Rage filled her heart.

"Shut up, Bitch!" a voice spoke out, slapping Brittany's face hard after she let out another high pitched scream. The blow left her stunned and dizzy and she placed a hand on her face, looking up at her attacker with frightened eyes and unsteady feet. "Aw, now she's better," a voice cooed mockingly, taking hold of her and leading her into the alley.

She was dragged on to the ground. Her mind not being able to take hold of the situation anymore. To her left she could hear her sisters struggling, yelling out in pain when they were hit, and calling for Brittany. Brittany raised her hands to claw at her attacker who was now on top of her, trying to tear at her own clothing. But another hit to the face and she dropped her hands. She, Brittany Miller, Queen Bee, Most Popular Girl, and the girl you don't mess with, couldn't find her will to fight. Her eyes started to tear.

"Nice party," a strange voice said. "Can I join?"

Brittany looked to her right to see a figure that she couldn't believe that she recognized. There was the black helmet, black jacket, blue jeans, and black sneakers. The voice was definitely something that was synthesized, but it didn't remove the angry tone from it. It was the figure from last week. Her hero from last week.

Her delusional hero.

"Who brought the circus fag?" the guy on Brittany spat to the others in the alley. She blinked and got another good look at her hero. 'He's real', she thought hopefully. The gang member turned his head again only to meet with the dark figures shoe. The assailant staggered off Brittany and the other guys got up only to find that the figure was gone.

They looked around them, but their eyes landed on their fallen comrade, knocked out on the ground. The next hit came from a guy standing next to Eleanor. The figure had returned and punched one of the members in the face. The member staggered himself while a third was hit by the figure on the other side of the alley. The remaining gang members began shouting to each other and cursing the hero's fleetness of foot.

The girls, as soon as they were free, crawled over to each other and to the end of the alley, holding their ripped dresses in place and watching as the figure seemed to move in the shadows quickly to take each criminal by surprise. Within only a few moments, the figure was in the center of the alley, looking at the knocked out figures. "Had fun guys. Let's do it again. But not real soon." With a nod of his head, he pointed to the girls and indicated the street. "Get on home. Cops will be here any minute." With that, he backed away into the shadows.

Eleanor ran towards their hero but called out to her sisters that he was gone. But Jeanette and Brittany didn't seem to care at the moment. Brittany just stared forward while Jeanette checked Brittany's injuries. Eleanor soon came over as well to help Brittany. Her sisters wasted no time in picking Brittany up and walking up and out on to the street. However, in a few moments, they heard sirens and were stopped by the cops.

They didn't get back home until a late hour after being questioned at the police station and once there were safely tucked away inside the house, they got the earful from their guardian that they didn't get while at the police station. Brittany, bandaged up along with her sisters, were grounded. They were also exhausted, hurting, and curious. The police also seemed curious about this masked hero.

"The Vigilante," Jeanette wondered to herself as she shared a bed with her sisters. Their attack had left them feeling too vulnerable to sleep alone. "That's what the police called him. The Vigilante. So he's known to the police force. I wonder how long he's been doing it?"

Eleanor agreed tiredly. Brittany just looked from one sister to another, feeling horrible for placing them in danger and wanting to open up with them about the guy who saved not only them tonight, but saved her twice now. "At least a week. I thought I was crazy, but he saved me last week."

After a few more minutes of the girls talking in hushed whispers to get all the details, it was finally decided. This unknown do-gooder was out there doing-good, and the girls were downright relieved about it. "Too bad the police are probably out to arrest him. Vigilantism is illegal," Jeanette commented before falling asleep.

The two remaining sisters looked at each other. Only after a few seconds they both agreed with each other silently. 'We have to do everything in our power to keep him safe.'

**Like I said, I really don't think I made the fight scene too good. But it's hard from a victim's perspective! So much is going on that it's hard to keep track of, it's confusing, and over before you know it. *sigh* Oh well. Onwards to the next chapter, since I hate it when there's a story I get into and it just...falls off...Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, once again. Three chapters in one day may make it seem like I have no life, but that's just because I work a bazillion hours a week and this is my day off. Anyway, we keep on moving. I don't know, I feel like the story is so slow. Or maybe that's because my chapters are so long. But, warning, this one is pretty S/J heavy. I'm kinda an S/J fan. I'm having trouble giving my story a proper rating. I don't want to get into trouble. Right now its K+. Really, nothing very graphic has been written in it, I don't think, maybe…Onward we go!**

Saturday came and went pretty quickly. All three girls were in no state what-so-ever to do anything strenuous. Jeanette was still sick and now nursing various bruises of her own. Eleanor was not too much worse for wear as she was just exhausted and deep in thought. Brittany was working on getting rid of a pounding headache. So any type of Saturday adventure was just unpalatable. Those reasons aside, Ms. Miller's fury at the choice her girls made last night made any type of outing absolutely out of the question.

Sunday was also quiet. Ms. Miller had gotten up, prepared her girls breakfast, told them not to go anywhere, reminding them all that they were grounded, and left for work. Jeanette, feeling more like herself and well on her way to a complete recovery from her cold, sat down at the kitchen table to do homework. Brittany felt better as well, but was invariably listless and eventually gave up on doing something entertaining and sat down to finish her homework as well. Eleanor made herself content watching television after lunch.

She flipped through the channels, occasionally finding something to watch but then quickly losing interest in it. There had been nothing to interest her or her sisters besides recapping again and again their rescue. It was amazing to think that someone like that was out there in their own city, doing all in his power to make it a better place. Eleanor kept quiet, thinking that one man could make very little difference, but still the thought was admirable and was indeed something to be proud of.

As she surfed the channels, a word stuck out to her. She quickly went back to see a newscaster talking in a serious voice about a vigilante loose in the city. Eleanor called her sisters into the living room.

"What is it?" Jeanette asked politely and Eleanor sat her sisters down on the couch with her. Eleanor hushed them and pointed to the television.

'The figure in this picture has been reported to be seen throughout the city the last few days, finding gang members and other criminals and stopping their criminal acts. Police have little to comment, simply saying that civilians should be calling the police instead of taking matters into their own hands,' the newscaster stated.

"That's the Vigilante!" Brittany cried, unnecessarily, pointing at the picture on the screen. Her sisters hushed her.

'Although the police were notified with each occurrence, they arrived only minutes after the good Samaritan had left the scene of the crime, leaving the victims almost completely unscathed and the police only having to arrest the assailants or criminals. But all interviewed victims stated that if it wasn't for this figure, dubbed 'The Vigilante' by police and citizens alike, then the events would have turned out much worse. Police are looking for The Vigilante and have requested that anyone with information is to…'

"See, we need to protect him," Brittany muttered, turning the television off. "The police are looking for someone saving people and not the criminals who need to be caught."

Jeanette was a little on the fence about protecting their hero. She was brought up to speed about her sister's sentiments only that morning, and was far from against doing something to show gratitude towards him, but was hesitant about harboring information from the police about a wanted man. Good deeds or no, he was still a wanted man.

"But how can we? The police are looking for him and he only pops up when people are in trouble. What can we do?" Eleanor chimed in.

Both girls looked expectantly at Jeanette. Jeanette widened her eyes and backed away. "What are you looking at me for?"

"Well?" Brittany and Eleanor exclaimed before Brittany continued. "You're the smart one. Have any ideas?"

Jeanette shook her head. "There is nothing we can do. All we can do is simply pretend that we have never seen him."

"Whole lot of good that will do," Eleanor muttered. "We already told the police all we know about him."

The girls sat in silence, each with their own thoughts. Brittany wanted to protect her hero. Anyone who was that good to save a girl from making an admittedly dumb move, twice, was someone she could really get behind. She also thought that he was probably good looking, strong, fast, kind, completely hot, and right now, the only guy she was really interested in. Not that she would like anyone know that. 'And not that it matters that much,' she thought to herself.

Eleanor felt a little hopeless. She agreed with Brittany one hundred percent about helping this guy out, no matter where or who he was. But what could three grounded-forever high school girls do to protect him? They couldn't interfere with the cops since that would be illegal. And it wasn't as if they were really that capable. They couldn't even help themselves.

Jeanette had felt gratitude and it grew with every day. But the idea of wrong doing and going against the police scared her. She couldn't. She would throw away all that she had worked for. All the good colleges didn't take too kindly to criminal records and withholding information or assisting a wanted man were both illegal actions. She was thankful. And after her sisters decided to try and help this guy, she was now confused.

The silence continued for about fifteen minutes, with each girl involved with her own thoughts. It was suddenly broken by Brittany jumping to her feet with a resolute look on her face. "We don't know what we can do," Brittany stated, answering the questioning looks her sisters gave her. "We want to help this guy, but we have no idea how or even where to begin. So, we're going to wait."

"Wait!?" Eleanor cried out.

"Yes. I'll go through my information network tomorrow. We don't know what to do because we don't have enough information. Once I have that, something should turn up." Brittany gave a grin and then went back to the kitchen to finish her homework. Jeanette soon followed.

Monday morning. The chipettes, much to their dismay, were dropped off at the high school by Ms. Miller. They knew that she loved them dearly, but they couldn't expect Ms. Miller to just constantly drop them off and pick them up every day. Ms. Miller worked long hours and even longer days just to keep them all afloat. Even the girls' part time jobs did little to help out their caregiver with their needs. But the girls all loved Ms. Miller and they gave her hugs and warm farewells as they got out of the car and went into the school.

Immediately, Brittany broke away from her sisters to go through her social network, catch up on the gossip, and get any new information about the Vigilante. Eleanor also went her own way, bent on fulfilling the task of gathering information as well, as was commanded by Commander-in-chief Brittany. Jeanette, less enthused and still confused, went to her locker, got her things, and headed off to homeroom. She needed to focus on the make-up work for her first three classes that she missed on Friday.

And so the morning progressed.

With the sound of the second bell, Jeanette was safely in her seat in her science class, her notebook open, pencil poised, and ready for the class to begin. She had been reading before the bell had rung and had just put it away at the sound. The remainder of the students filtered into the classroom and took their seats while their teacher was sorting through papers on her desk. Once the last student that the teacher would tolerate being late for walked in, she got up and shut the door.

"Okay guys," she said in her absent-minded voice, denoting that she usually was thinking of other things. She was relatively young compared to the other teachers and had yet to assume any type of authority in her voice. "I'm giving you all assigned seating for this next unit based off your test scores. It's just my way of letting you all," she said, while pulling up the Periodic Table of Elements chart that was opened on the board, "to get more out of this class. Now, get into your seats quickly."

Jeanette read the white board and saw it to be a diagram of all the desks in the classroom. Names were written in each little square that represented a desk. She smiled when she saw hers listed in the top right corner, closets to the teacher's desk and the furthest away from the door. It was the same spot that she always sat in. Since she figured the other students would be taking their time finding their seats, she pulled out her book again.

Within moments, though, she heard the chair of the usually unoccupied seat next to her move and someone sat down. She didn't even bother to glance up, figuring it was someone who was failing the class and was placed there to get 'extra help'. She sighed.

Her heart began to beat faster. She carefully touched her fingers to her wrist and counted. It was definitely faster. Her heart was beating fast originally soon after she took a seat in the classroom, but she figured it was because she missed the test and was nervous. Now, her heartbeat was moving faster.

Cologne. It was faint, but there was the smell of cologne. There was a guy next to her. So if it was someone failing science and wearing cologne, then it must be one of the football team. She mentally when through a list in her head of who was in the class that was on the team. There was Nick, Dwight, and Ali. 'Which one is likely to be failing?' she pondered. 'Dwight.'

The guy next to her cleared his throat and out of her peripheral vision she could see a notebook out and a pencil poised. There was no way it could be Dwight. She took a deep breath in and looked at her new table mate and nearly fell off her chair with a start.

A pair of steel gray eyes behind a smart looking pair of frames were staring at her in surprise. "Are you okay?" he asked politely.

She quickly regained her composure and adjusted her glasses that had gone askew. She nodded her head and began to stutter out some sort of excuse about how she didn't know he was there. After her excuse, he simply nodded and returned to looking at the teacher and she felt downright foolish. Here was the boy that made her heart race, her stomach upset, and her face blush sitting right next to her and the first thing she managed to say to him was some sort of incoherent stuttering mumble. But quickly glancing at him from the corner of her eye, a thought occurred to her. 'He must have failed that test. Mrs. Stone never lets anyone sit out from a test, new or not.'

"Jeanette," Mrs. Stone called to her, tapping her fingers on the desk to get Jeanette's attention. Jeanette jumped out of her reverie with a start. "Oh, sorry. You seem a little jumpy today. I just wanted to make sure you two are introduced. This is Simon Seville," Mrs. Stone motioned towards Simon. He gave a nod and a small smile. "Simon, this is Jeanette Miller. Jeanette is my highest scoring student and with the score that you received on the test yesterday, Simon, I'm assuming that you both can work to progress your knowledge instead of being held back."

The teacher turned away from them and left them in awkward silence. Both were relieved to be placed with someone studious, but just how studious was left for them to discover. And the praise that the teacher had given about each other had only lowered their willingness to overcome their shy personalities and speak with each other. Even if Simon had attempted, though, Jeanette was sure that she wouldn't be able to do anything but stutter.

The class progressed nicely, both students in the front writing notes furiously, asking questions, and answering them in turn. They both seemed to raise their hands simultaneously. When Jeanette would ask a question, Simon would quickly put his hand down since she asked the question he wanted answered. And when Simon had an answer, Jeanette would drop her hand and listen to what she wanted answered. But still, no conversation or even obviously glances happened between the two. Halfway through, though, the two faced a challenge. Mrs. Stone ordered a study-buddy situation where a worksheet would be completed by the pairs.

"Well then," Simon muttered, turning towards Jeanette. "How would you like to do this? Both together, one question at a time or we could split the questions, I do half and you do half. You seem very…ah, capable."

Jeanette nodded and agreed to the latter idea. Two smart students taking five problems each meant that the worksheet was done in a matter of minutes, leaving the remainder of the activity as their own free time.

But that awkward silence was very awkward. It seemed as if the two wanted to talk, and both had obviously made several attempts, but none were really succeeding. All of their attempts just seemed to die just before words left their mouths.

Finally, it was too much. "Forgive me if this seems rude, but I noticed you're feeling much better today," Simon spat out, looking directly into Jeanette's eyes. She nodded and blushed a little bit, turning her face towards the window.

"I probably shouldn't have been in school, but my sisters wanted to go to the dance, so long story short, I had to be here. You did wonderfully, by the way, at the dance. I was impressed."

Simon nodded and took his turn to look away and blush. The silence descended on them again. Occasionally, they would try to start talking, but the same pattern emerged as before. It was only broken by Jeanette gathering courage to speak again. "Have you heard of the Vigilante?" She watched as Simon looked at her with furrowed eyebrows and comment that he had not.

"Well, I don't normally follow in gossip or anything of the sort. Not that telling you can prove to you that I don't. But he's a man that is now running around the city saving people. He just pops out of nowhere, face hidden and no identifying features, saves the day, and then runs off before the police arrive."

"Sounds like he's living up to his name."

"Most certainly. My sisters and I are attempting to…help him, I guess. They believe that they should do something, since he did help us all out of a sticky situation."

Simon nodded, his attention fully on the girl sitting next to him. "That is aiding and abetting, you know," he finally commented.

Jeanette nodded solemnly, looking down into her folded hands in her lap. "I know. I was against it at first, but he did us a great favor. I can't just sit back and watch him get caught or killed or something. There has to be an action that we can take. So my sisters and I are, frankly, trying to get as much information as we can about him. We have no ideas just yet, so gathering information seems like a good place to start." Jeanette shrugged and smiled a little to herself. But then her eyes went wide. She just revealed to a perfect stranger that she wanted to break the law!

She looked up with wide eyes and her hands over her mouth, just simply staring at Simon. How was it that she could slip up like this? She wasn't a chatter box. But that was exactly what she did. To a completely stranger who knows that this type of thing is illegal and who also, apparently, doesn't think to highly of a vigilante's actions.

But she began to calm down. Simon appeared thoughtful, simply nodding his head. He glanced over at her. "Would this feeling of desiring to help come from an idea that you wish to express gratitude in some form or from a sense of obligation?" he muttered out slowly.

Without hesitation, and without needing to consider just how close those two options were, Jeanette could answer in a whisper. "Gratitude. Without a doubt."

Simon nodded again and looked thoughtful once more. "I don't know much about the circumstances or about the news associated with this fellow, but if I were in your position, from what I have heard, I would do something different."

"You have an idea?" Jeanette asked excitedly, moving a little closer.

It seemed as if all Simon was doing was nodding. "I would express gratitude by helping towards the overall goal. He wishes to clean up the streets. Then I would try to do just that."

Jeanette's enthusiasm seemed to sink. They could never be vigilante's themselves. "What I mean is," Simon continued, not truly noticing Jeanette's actions, "finding things in your own power, that are legal, to help. I'm in no way saying for you or your sisters to go out and become vigilantes yourselves. Just being someone to stand up for what is right. Not just watching wrong things happen."

Just then, the bell rang that signaled the end of class. Jeanette rose from her desk as did Simon, both putting their supplies away. Jeanette thought carefully about what Simon had said. It was vague. But it rang true. A community needs to watch out for itself, not have someone watching over it. But what could she do?

It was at lunch that Jeanette called her sisters for a meeting. Brittany was less than excited originally, but seemed to be happier about it once she realized that the torment that Alvin had been purposely putting her through was going to continue well into the rest of the day. And Alvin hung out with her crowd. And she needed respite.

"So what is it, Jeanette?" Eleanor asked while Brittany looked huffy at being with her two sisters.

"I have an idea about that thing that we are doing. But it's not completely formed yet."

This got Brittany's attention. Soon, Jeanette was speaking to her sisters in a whisper. She told the entire idea, but left out where she got it from. It seemed as if any mention of any Seville would put Brittany in a mood that would reject any idea, no matter how good it could or might be. But sisters listened intently, and upon finishing, Jeanette simply stared at her sisters.

"That doesn't seem like it would do much. Three people against an entire city of crime. Not to mention, we're grounded and can't leave the house." Brittany sighed.

"Wait a minute. You said that this wasn't really a formed idea, right?"

"Yes, Eleanor. This is in its infant stage. It could or could not do something, but's it's an idea."

"The gist of it, though, is empowering! Empowering people not to feel helpless! I felt like there was nothing I could do the other night," Eleanor trailed off. "But remember those bullying videos that the teachers had us watch a while back? They were all about feeling strong and having a course of action. What if we gave everyone in the class a way to empower themselves!?"

Jeanette looked thoughtful again, staring at her shoes and racking her brains. "It could be a way to signal danger. For us, we couldn't even call for help and most people in our neighborhood are used to screams. We've had too many false alarms. Everyone just ignores the screams now."

Then, Brittany snapped her fingers and a smile graced her beautiful features. She turned to her sisters. "Ellie, we're going to need a lot of baked goods, 'cause we're going to have a bake sale." Brittany turned to go back to the cafeteria while the other girls followed, questioning Brittany. She simply turned around, winked, and sang out, "You'll see!"

**My, my, whatever are the chipettes going to do? You'll see! Oh, the next chapter will have some T/E and A/B, probably. Maybe. I don't know. I will try. But yea, vigilantism is illegal in the United States. Yeup. See ya next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The next chapter. I have decided to just keep on plugging away and get this story out. Thanks for all the views and for reading up to this point! I really appreciate it. Enjoy!**

It was amazing how quickly everything had moved within the past two weeks. With the Vigilante's frequent appearance all over the city and the increasing number of supporters within the community, the Miller girls had no problems acting out their plan and getting their own support.

The first few days were the hardest for the girls. They had to go through the school to ask for permission to sell Eleanor's fantastic bake goods during the lunch periods. But once they had explained the idea for raising money, the principal and all the teachers of the school were quick to throw in monetary support. Once the stand was set up, the girls reached out to their own cliques and friends, and, soon enough, even the parents were getting in on sending in donations.

Brittany's plan was to purchase, for every student in the school, a particular type of whistle with a distinct sound. The whistles, once purchased with the money earned and donated, would be carried and used only to signal for help. Either the victim or a witness could blow the whistle, signaling to others in the surrounding area to help and call the police. Or the Vigilante, if he was near-by. Of course, some students scoffed at the idea, feeling that no one would want to answer the call or that it would just be abused, but the majority was more than willing to put up a fight and this was their weapon.

The Community Support Network, as Jeanette dubbed the project, just took off, and at the end of the two weeks, the whistles were in the school, teachers were explaining how to use them, and the Miller girls were gladly handing them out freely. Even a petition, started by some other students, was being passed around to request the mayor to increase the police presence in the city streets and a school club was formed by another group of students to start to create a Community Watch Program.

Thus, within the span of a fortnight, the completion of the initial stage of the project was coming to a close and everyone seemed to be getting on the band wagon.

As for the girls themselves, they had remained out of trouble. They were far too busy with their project to even think of doing much else out of their norm. Of course, their ever watchful guardian was still attempting to keep her girls safe, although, as predicted, she wasn't able to drive them to and from school as often as she had liked. The only worry on the three minds was the end product. Would the whistles be used correctly, work right, and would the surrounding by-standers be able to assist without putting themselves in danger or in the reach of the long arm of the law?

"Do you have a whistle?" Eleanor asked a group of girls passing by the table outside of the cafeteria. The girls all nodded and held up the elongated whistles that were worn around their necks. Eleanor smiled and asked the next group that walked by.

"Who would have ever known that these whistles would be a fashion statement?" Brittany came walking up to Eleanor with a smile around her face and revealing the pink sequins and feathers that she had attacked to her whistle necklace. "All the girls are doing it."

"Glad they're finding ways to make this go along with their sense of style," Eleanor replied dryly, before asking a group of guys about their whistles. The guys just laughed, but Eleanor had recognized a few of them as previous visitors from the day before. They had it in their minds to simply walk their streets with their cell phones and whistles, prepared to call the cops. A few of the others in the group simply thought the idea was bogus.

"Hey Eleanor!" a voice called over an open mouthed Brittany, preventing her from replying to her sister.

"Theodore!" she waved back excitedly. The girls glanced over to see Theodore and Alvin walking up to them, Theodore genuinely happy to see Eleanor and Alvin with a devious smirk on his face. "Have you got a whistle yet?" Eleanor held up a whistle to the boys with a smile.

Theodore stopped at the table and looked at it in confusion. "Whistle?"

"Yea, I don't need one. I'm too much of a man to need something to whistle at girls for me. Something like that would simply kill my image," Alvin grinned at Brittany, trying to appear as suave as he could be.

Rolling her eyes, she glared back at him. "That's not what they're for. It's the Community Support Network."

"And that is?"

She inwardly groaned. His attitude, sometimes, really made her want to punch him. Wait, not sometimes. All the time. "If you are in trouble, you blow the whistle, signaling for help, and everyone around should come to your aid, including the police. We're making the papers with this."

Alvin nodded his head and stared down at a whistle. "Don't need it."

Eleanor and Brittany looked incredulous. He was so nonchalant! Didn't he realize that for this to work, everyone in the community needed to be behind it. Brittany bit her lip, still glaring, and shoved a whistle into his hand. "Just take one."

Theodore just watched with his big green eyes and a somewhat blank expression. Then he looked at Eleanor. "I'll take two. Simon should have one, too!" he stated, holding out his hand. Eleanor smiled happily and handed two of the whistles to Theodore. Their hands brushed and they quickly looked away from each other, blushing.

"Speaking of four-eyes, where is he?" Alvin asked, taking a moment from arguing with Brittany to scan the hallways. Theodore just shrugged and the two walked away from the cafeteria, waving quickly at the girls. Eleanor just smiled as she watched her friend walk away. Brittany just huffed and muttered about Alvin being annoying and something about him dating some sort of girl recently.

Jeanette, at this time, was slowly making her way to the whistle table, thinking about everything that had happened and of what they needed to do next. With the distribution of the whistles, all that was left was to see if the students used them correctly. It was risky. If people could scream false alarms, a whistle could be used the same way as well.

Suddenly, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She stopped and searched her various pockets on her clothing to find the device and once she did, she opened it to read the message. Nodding as she scanned it, she put the phone away and continued down the hallway. She was almost to the table and her sisters.

Turning a corner, she bumped into someone and fell to the floor. "Hey, watch it!" a voice snapped at her and as she gathered herself together, she could see a pair of legs walk past her angrily. She felt ashamed. She did it again. Slowly, she climbed to her feet to continue on her way. She then stopped. Up ahead of her, the Seville brothers, including Simon, were in the hallway. They seemed to be in a heated discussion and soon they seemed to give up in exasperation and walked away from each other in different directions. Jeanette shrugged it off. She quickly found out that Simon and Alvin fought a lot with each other.

Finally, she reached her sisters. "Hello, Eleanor. Hello, Brittany. Ms. Miller says that she's working late tonight and we should head home together immediately after school."

"How late is late?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"I can't tell you, Brittany. She just text me, telling me she would be late tonight."

"It's amazing that she can text. Most people her age don't even have a cellphone," Eleanor mused.

"Well, sorry girls, but I'm taking this opportunity to do some shopping after school with my friends."

"But Brittany!"

"No, Jeanette. I'll be with friends and I'll be home before dark. I can't stand being cooped up anymore! I have a social life that is in serious danger of falling apart if I stay in any longer."

"Brittany, we've been too busy with the Community Social Network to really even feel like that." Eleanor placed a hand on Brittany's shoulder in a consoling manner.

Brittany just stared blankly at her sisters. "I'm going out. Period. You two should do the same. It's not like we just attract trouble when we go out!"

"I can't believe this. Jeanette, talk some sense into your sister."

"Actually," Jeanette stuttered out slowly, looking at her shoes that she had just discovered to be very interesting. "There's a new exhibit at the museum. And I need to return my public library books. They're due today. And I want to see how people are taking to the whistles."

Eleanor rolled her eyes, huffed, and frantically began to try to talk her sister's out of their plans. It wasn't as if she was scared for them. She just wanted to be cautious. Contrary to what Brittany thought, Eleanor thought that Brittany attracted nothing but trouble recently. However, she had to give in eventually. Brittany could be very stubborn, and Jeanette simply felt an obligation to the library to return the books on their proper due date. There was no changing their minds. Reluctantly, Eleanor gave in, but only after a solemn promise that the girls would be home no later than dinner.

The afternoon went by more quickly than expected and the girls met up with each other just before leaving the building. With their whistles safely secure around their necks and within their reach, they parted ways. Eleanor turned to head home, Jeanette went towards the public library, and Brittany walked with a group of friends to their favorite stores outside of the mall. The sky was sunny, temperature normal for the fall weather, and not a single cloud in the sky.

Brittany had to admit to herself that she was a little nervous. She had been attacked twice within the course of the last month and there was no certainty that a group of chatty girls would be grounds to keep away anyone with hostile intentions. But that whistle, the whistle that all her friends also had, began to act like a security blanket. She felt safe, although she didn't know if it would work or not. She also felt connected to her hero.

In a blink of an eye, the afternoon was quickly coming to a close and the girls began to becoming aware of the time and the need to return back to their own homes. By about quarter to five, the group of ten had dwindled to three, Brittany being included. The girls, with their shopping bags in hand, left the latest store in a whirlwind of cacophonous non-stop chatter. They turned to walk home, each conveniently living in the same direction.

Without notice, the girls stopped talking, stopped walking, and were staring down the street. There, in the middle of the sidewalk, three men were stomping on a fourth. The crowd around them just seemed to shy away. The girls next to Brittany were speechless and seemed to just stare. Brittany couldn't even move.

Quickly, her blue eyes scanned the attack. Then she looked at some of the people standing around. She moved her head, looking at her friends, and then back at the scene. Time seemed frozen and she felt frozen along with it, except for the nausea quickly settling in her stomach.

Suddenly, she couldn't stop thinking about her experiences. Feeling hurt. Feeling confused. Wishing for help or a miracle. Praying to be assisted. Feeling absolutely helpless.

"Let's move across the street," one of the girls whispered, breaking the silence and trying to tug at Brittany's elbow for them to move away. Brittany then snapped. That man may be helpless right now, but they were not. They had a plan. They had prepared themselves for this.

"Forget that!" Without a moment's hesitation, she reached around her neck furiously, eventually finding the whistle. She moved it so quickly to her mouth that her tongue ended up fighting with the feathers and her lips encircled the little metal end. With a deep breath, she let a shrill whistle loose over the whole area. Things then seemed to thaw quickly.

An attacker looked up to find where the noise came from. A few of the people on the streets looked curiously at Brittany. One of her friends snapped out of her trance and began to blow her own whistle just as loudly. And the friend who tried to run away, looking wide-eyed and unsure, pulled out her cell phone to call the cops. Brittany just kept on blowing with all her might, calling attention to the scene. She didn't stop until she heard loud cheering from the people as they all pointed at something coming up the road.

A black, shiny, full face motorcycle helmet caught the sun's rays. The black jacket and blue pants were instantly recognizable. Gloved hands moving gracefully as the Vigilante made his way up the street and pushing his fist right into one of the assailants. Brittany smiled, took a few more steps forward confidently, made sure that her friend was still on the phone to the cops, and put her whistle back into her mouth.

The vigilante seemed to have a little more difficulty fighting off the attackers than the last time she had seen him. This time, it took a couple of hits to knock a guy down instead of just one. But he still continued to fight as well as he could, taking a few jabs to his stomach or back as the attackers ganged up on him. The victim had run into a nearby shop to hide, but was showing his face from time to time, blood soaked and swollen, but cheering on the Vigilante.

One attacker down. Then two. The third decided to flee, seeing his chance of victory completely gone and knowing that cops would arrive shortly. He chose to run away from the Vigilante and towards the three girls who started all the commotion.

Brittany had seemed to forget to keep her attention on what was going on. She had her eyes closed, her face was red, and she just blew and blew on that whistle, over and over again. It was the only thing she could think of doing and it was the only thing that seemed to have worked. The helpless feeling had completely vanished. But so did her attention.

The third ran straight into her, knocking her down on the ground and causing her to land on her shopping bags that she had dropped when she was reaching for her whistle. But the attacker kept moving as quickly as he could to get away from the Vigilante and he kept on running away from the shouts of the others, telling him that he better not show his face in the area again and that he was not welcomed.

Brittany had stopped blowing her whistle, and shouts and cheers could be heard. Her friends just stared after the assailant, their own actions having been completed. Brittany began to pull herself together when a hand reached down and pulled her up by the elbow. She turned to see her own reflection in a completely black visor looking back.

"I don't think you should go out anymore," the synthesized voice said with obvious amusement. Brittany blushed and inwardly squealed. He had recognized her. "But then again, I wouldn't have been here without you." The Vigilante nodded his head but then it quickly whipped around. The sound of sirens was beginning to become clear. Without another word, he released Brittany and ran as quickly as he could between a pair of buildings. When others had tried to follow him or see him one last time, he was gone.

Brittany's friends quickly brought her attention to a news van that was coming their way and Brittany began to prepare herself for the possible interview before she realized something rather important. She was grounded and Ms. Miller would probably see the report. With a quick explanation, Brittany ran home just as the local church bell was tolling its fifth and final chime for that hour.

Pagebreak

Jeanette hurriedly entered the house, closing the door a little louder than was normally accustomed to her. An ear to ear grin was plastered on to her face as she placed her book bag down on the floor and immediately went into the kitchen. Both her sisters were already there, Eleanor cooking dinner and Brittany talking excitedly. "Hi, girls," Jeanette greeted in an excited tone.

"Oh my god, Jeanette, listen to this!" Brittany said turning to face her. Brittany seemed to have on the exact same grin that Jeanette did. "I was walking home after shopping at The Boutique, right, when there, right in the middle of daylight, on the sidewalk, these guys jumped this other guy. I couldn't believe it! No one was doing anything to help and everyone just stood there, being completely stupid. I wasn't having that. I blew my whistle as loud as I could, and then Mary joined in with me, and that got Kelsey, who was standing there stupid, to call the cops. Kelsey can be a little dimwitted sometimes.

"Then, who should come out of nowhere, but the Vigilante! He made a few hits," Brittany began to put up her fists a little and act out the fight, "and took a few hits. But he ended up beating the crap out of those guys. It was totally ratchet."

"Ratchet?" Eleanor and Jeanette asked simultaneously.

"Whatever," Brittany rolled her eyes. "At the end of the fight, he even came up to me and thanked me! He knew I was the one to start the fight. I swear, he's crushing on me."

"Well, he's getting to know you well enough," Eleanor muttered sarcastically just loud enough for Jeanette to hear. Eleanor had heard of nothing else besides Brittany's story since Brittany came home.

"The best part is, the news is going to do a report! There was a van there and everything. I would have stayed, but," Brittany trailed off sadly.

Jeanette and Eleanor nodded. They could figure out Brittany's train of thought. Just then, Brittany perked up and exclaimed excitedly, running into the living room and screaming about something about the news. Jeanette and Eleanor just giggled.

"What has you so excited?" Eleanor asked eventually of her second eldest sister. Jeanette, still smiling, had gone thoughtful.

"Well, I witnessed the whistles working too. I was coming out of the museum, heard the whistle, and ran to find out where it was coming from, to find a bunch of seniors standing up with a thief for trying to rob an elderly woman. One of the seniors was blowing the whistle, one was helping the woman, and the others were arguing with the thief and calling the cops. Just when it was getting to a boiling point, though, since the seniors were getting too involved," Jeanette frowned at this, "the Vigilante came out, restrained the thief and calmed the seniors down before taking off. He almost ran right into me. Almost gave me a heart attack," Jeanette finished sheepishly.

"Sounds like a bit of a setback to me."

"Yes, I agree. The seniors did take it too far. And the police thought so too. They were given warnings, but weren't handled too severely. But it's still a victory in its own way."

A squeal from the living room interrupted and the girls new exactly what Brittany was watching. Her event had made the six o'clock news. At dinner, she told and retold everything. Jeanette and Eleanor paid little attention until Jeanette heard Brittany mention a detail that she hadn't before.

"What time did you say this happened?" Jeanette asked politely.

"About five."

Jeanette went quiet and looked at her food but then shrugged. Brittany had a tendency to estimate nearly everything. "What are these feathers here for?"

"Oh those? I had them as decoration for my whistle. But they don't taste so good."

**Another chapter finished. Could I ask a favor? Would you all just give me shout. I seriously feel that this thing is moving way too slow and is way too boring. It's either true, or I just am excited about the really good chapters on the way. The entire thing is planned out. Well, thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**And now presenting the next chapter. Things are just moving right along, although I am far from finished with this. I'm beginning to think that this was a bit too ambitious but I'm definitely having a lot of fun. Thanks for keeping up with the story! And away we go…**

Yet another week had come and gone. The whistles were definitely keeping the police busy, but everyone seemed very willing to be a part of The Community Support Network. Even those that had originally refused the whistle went to get their own. The local newspapers and new stations were all over the story and the community was more than impressed with the actions of their local high school students.

But things don't change in a week. Gangs were still everywhere and were still continuing their activities. The only difference was that now, they ran when they heard the whistle. They tried to keep their own identities hidden so that witnesses couldn't identify them. Or they were quick to try and turn the tables on the whistle blowers, trying to get the cops to chase after them instead.

The Vigilante seemed to be working overtime, as well. The whistles directed him to where he needed to go, but with whistles being blown all over, it was hard for him to keep up. It seemed that he was getting tired and taking a few hits, since he would be seen limping, or holding a particular body part. One story circulated that he had taken a knife to the arm. But still, his presence was there and the community did what they could to keep the cops away from them. It was the unspoken rule to help this hero of the shadow.

"Theodore, what are you doing after school today?" Eleanor asked, turning her smiling face quickly to her friend, her blonde pig tails swaying with her. She tried to smile as sweetly as she could and her own brown eyes glittered in the florescent lights of the home economics classroom. Theodore looked down at her, being just slightly taller. Just about the height of Jeanette.

"Well, just my usual. I hang out with my brothers."

"Do you want to help me, then? I got permission from Mrs. Kingston to try out a new recipe after school."

Theodore just looked at her. He had a smile on his face, but it seemed to never touch his eyes. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. But my brothers are pretty big on 'family time'. We always hang out together after school."

"Oh, c'mon, Theodore. It's only for an hour. I get plenty of family time with my sisters every day after school. The same can be said for you." Eleanor was a little surprised at herself. She normally didn't persist this much, but she just really wanted to spend some more time with Theodore. He was quickly becoming her best friend.

He lost his smile entirely and looked sadly at Eleanor. "I can't," he muttered out after a while, looking down at the stove and cooking book and sighing.

"Oh," Eleanor muttered, turning the page of the book absentmindedly. "Maybe next time, then. I just thought that you would like to try some of the chocolate mousse that I'm going to make."

"Chocolate mousse!?" Theodore asked excitedly. Eleanor nodded, looking back up at a very excited Theodore. He seemed very happy with the idea and she began to get hopeful. 'Wait a minute. Why am I so big on spending time with him? I have all my afternoon classes with the guy!' she thought. "So would you like to come?"

She could see he was thinking seriously. She had never really seen him thinking that hard before. He shifted his eyes from her to the book and back to her again, fidgeting with his hands and shifting his weight from foot to foot. Finally, he came to a conclusion. "I would love to!"

She grinned wide. "Great!"

The school intercom then signaled and the voice of the principal filled the classrooms and hallways of the school. 'Attention students and faculty. A mandatory assembly has been called. Please make your way to the school auditorium as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you.'

"Alright," Mrs. Kingston clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Please put away your recipe books and get ready to leave. Luckily, they picked today to do this instead of yesterday when we were arm deep in pizza dough, right?"

Some of the students chuckled and all put away their materials that they were going through to plan out their next dish. Much more quickly than anticipated, the students were ready and were walking down the halls towards the auditorium. Theodore and Eleanor walked with each other, making small talk about the chocolate mousse recipe. Halfway there, Brittany had caught up to them and soon after that, Jeanette did as well.

Theodore didn't talk with the other two Miller sisters very much, but he was very willing to call them friends. Brittany didn't seem to want to talk with Theodore, but couldn't bring herself to hate him. Jeanette happily joined in the conversation with Eleanor and Theodore. But by then, they all were wanting to talk about the emergency, mandatory student assembly.

They took their seats next to each other, Brittany wanting to catch a chance to talk with her sisters in private, but getting more annoyed with circumstances when Theodore stayed with them. "Do you think this has something to do with the Community Support Network?" Jeanette asked her two sisters and Theodore.

"Don't see why it should. We're doing everyone a favor by finally doing something." Brittany was texting on her cellphone and didn't even bother to look up.

"Yea! I mean, I don't know much about this city yet, but it seems to be getting a lot better because of all your hard work!" Theodore chimed in happily. Brittany looked up and gave a small smile. Seriously, she had been trying to find a way to just be annoyed with the guy, but couldn't find one at all. He was just too happy.

"But these assemblies only seem to happen when there is an outside force, like the police." Jeanette was starting to get nervous. She didn't want to be in trouble.

"Um, no. They happen all the time. Last time it was about wearing seatbelts," Brittany sighed out.

"That was planned though. This wasn't." Eleanor looked at the other three.

"Maybe someone DIED!" a deep, guttural voice shouted behind Theodore. Theodore jumped about a foot off of his seat and turned around to see Alvin sitting behind him, holding his stomach, and laughing very hard. Theodore glared at Alvin as did the three girls. Brittany, upon seeing the obnoxious boy, simply huffed and went back to texting on her phone. Jeanette's heart was racing a mile a minute and Eleanor was downright angry. But before anyone could do anything, a hand reached out and knocked itself, with some force, but not too much, into the back of Alvin's head.

"Quiet, my little friend. You're being obnoxious." Simon adjusted his glasses and stood staring down at Alvin.

Alvin had lost his good humor and slowly stood up, his back straight, trying to size up to Simon. "You're cruising for a bruising, little bro."

Theodore looked from Simon to Alvin and back to Simon again. Both boys were staring each other down, unamused looks on their faces. "Who's little? Look. Your village just called. You should get back to it." Simon voiced is rebuttal in a quiet tone.

"Listen, Einstein, I don't know of any village that would be looking for me. Why don't you go back to the basement? I hear it calling for you. Simon! Simon! Come hermit away with me. I miss you!"

Simon straightened up his back and then leaned forward in an intimidating manner. The girls, this time, were staring curiously at the two. "Well, it certainly wouldn't be asking for you. But I can't seem to help thinking what a loss it is for that village of yours."

"What the hell village are you yapping about, four-eyes!?" Alvin gave in. Brittany smiled. She didn't know anyone had the power to make him snap like that.

"The one that is missing its idiot. Now stop shouting. You're causing a scene." Simon simply sat down after giving Theodore a smile and friendly tousle of his hair. Alvin glared at Simon and then reached down and quickly took Simon's glasses off his face.

"Who's the idiot now?" Alvin taunted.

"Alvin, give those back."

"If you're so smart, why don't you get them back yourself!?"

"You know I'm as good as blind without them." Simon was cautiously reaching out to where he could barely make out Alvin to be, obviously feeling a little vulnerable. Alvin held them further away with a laugh and Simon simply growled in anger. But a soft plea from Theodore finally made Alvin relent and he shoved the glasses into Simon's chest. Meticulously, Simon began to wipe the lenses and return them to his face.

Alvin, in his victory, decided to finally sit down. But he wasn't done with his little brother. "Where were you today at lunch?"

"The library. Unlike some people I know," Simon pointedly stared at Alvin, "I enjoy studying."

Alvin clicked his tongue and settled into his chair. "Oh yea, I forgot. Who wouldn't chose homework over food?"

"Guys," Theodore suddenly said, turning to face his brothers and trying to keep their bickering from continuing. "Do you mind if I'm late today? Eleanor wants to try out a new food recipe."

Simon turned his attention quickly to his little brother and Alvin quickly stopped trying to get Brittany's attention as well as annoy his smarter brother. Soon, blue eyes and grey eyes were looking directly at Theodore, causing Theodore to look down with hope fading fast. "Theodore, we know how much you like cooking, but…" Simon began, clearing his throat. He looked over at Alvin.

"You know the rules," Alvin put in quickly. His expression was extremely serious.

"I know. But we always hang out. Can't I have just one time?"

"Yea!" Eleanor put in. "It won't take that long away from your 'family time'. And it seems like only you two really need it."

Both the eldest Seville's directed unflinching gazes at Eleanor. She tried to maintain her own, but soon felt strangely over powered. "The answer is no, Theo. We need you to be there. I'm sorry. Maybe next time?" Simon put in soothingly, smiling softly back at Theodore. Theodore just nodded his head in disappointment and turned around in his seat, facing the auditorium stage.

Jeanette had watched with amazement. Was anyone really that close to each other? Brittany was just angry. The boys seemed to push Theodore around without as much as a good explanation. "Careful, Hitler, or you'll lose your guard," Brittany snapped.

"This has nothing to do with you, Brittany. Back off," Alvin snapped back.

The auditorium began to quiet down as the principal walked onto the stage. With the microphone in hand, the principal briefly explained why they were all assembled and then introduced a police officer by the name of Officer Wright. The police officer commended the students in their actions against crime, but gave the same old warnings and advice. The students were only meant to contact the police when there was trouble. They were not to engage in violence and were not to put themselves in harm's way. It was the same old spiel that they were given from the first day that the whistles were being handed out.

During the assembly, Jeanette was distracted by a hand moving over the seats and towards Theodore. She glanced to see Simon handing a graphing calculator to Theodore that obviously had a message on it. But what caught her attention was the red, scabbed cut on his arm that his sleeve had revealed when it got caught on Theodore's shoulder. Jeanette looked at Simon inquisitively, pointing at the arm that he quickly pulled back. He leaned forward, her face getting red and her heart increasing its pace and he whispered, "An accident. Alvin can be a bit of a handful when he decides to make dinner for everyone." The rest of the assembly passed without any other interesting occurrence.

Soon enough, the assembly was over and the students returned to their normal class schedules. The girls were strangely quiet. Eleanor was especially quiet the rest of the day. It was odd that brothers that didn't seem to get along too well would be so stuck on 'family time'. And she wasn't alone in her thoughts.

Brittany had picked up on the strange conversation. Alvin had been asked out on dates by at least thirty girls since he came to the school. But he never took any of them up on the offer. He always had some sort of excuse to go home, and she wasn't buying the idea of spending it with his brothers. Jeanette was a little less suspicious of Simon. She knew he was studious, but he was always in the library working on homework during his free periods. He was there a lot more often that she was.

At home, the girls decided to sit on the couch and see if there was anything new about the Vigilante or anything that had to do with their little project. The same old reports seemed to cycle through. Just when Jeanette was about to call it a day, and Brittany was about to take a shower, a breaking bulletin came on. The three sisters watched in horror as a news crew had filmed the near apprehension of the Vigilante. He had just barely escaped, and it seemed as if that was out of sheer luck.

"Girls, we have to do something," Brittany whispered. "He needs help. So, we're going to find him."

**Yay! Two chapters on a work day! I'm super happy about that, and to be writing again. Up next, the girls start their hunt. They just have to help him. They just have to!**


	6. Chapter 6

***sigh* I am depressed. It's a filing-an-order-of-protection type of day, ya'know? Well, hope you don't actually know. But maybe a little chapter will help. That and Chinese food. As always, I hope you enjoy and onward and forward!**

After relentless searching of newspaper articles, blogs, websites, and youtube videos, Jeanette had managed to accumulate a pretty sizable folder and a huge amount of information. She was frequently glancing through it, being the one of the three sisters to be assigned the job of discovering the Vigilante's identity, to pick up on any type of clue that they could use. But each piece of information was vague, at best, and was not truly a point in which to start a clearly directed search.

A few points of interest did take her attention. The first was that he seemed to have been working as a vigilante for the past seven or eight years in several different cities and towns across the United States. The second point derived from the first few photos. He seemed very young. One particular paper described him as 'Vigilante the Kid'. A final note that she could gather was that, as the years progressed, he seemed to get more and more proficient in hiding his identity. Now, it was almost impossible for a person to specifically determine the age, ethnicity, hair color, eye color, or any other identifiable features besides the gender.

It was an early start at an unlawful career, to say the least.

Brittany and Eleanor would ask frequently during the day if anything new had been discovered or even if Jeanette knew who the Vigilante was. Each time, Jeanette would simply give a negative as a reply and sigh. Of course, everyone in a while, her sisters would hand her a new photograph or some tid-bit of a rumor. It wasn't as if they were content with only having Jeanette unravel the mystery.

Occasionally, Jeanette found herself in the confidence of her new acquaintance, trying to bounce potential ideas off of him to get some sort of new perspective on the project. But Simon was no help at all. He would frequently brush off her attempts or downright object to her meddling. She was a little taken aback by his refusal. He seemed like a person who would be completely involved in unraveling such a compelling mystery, even if he didn't see a point to it.

"Jeanette, have you finished your chores?" Ms. Miller called from the living room. Ms. Miller had finally gotten a night off from the diner that she worked at and was enjoying some time with her girls. Eleanor was in the process of cooking dinner. Brittany was lying across the arm chair, lazily flipping through the latest fashion magazine. Jeanette was on the floor, pictures and papers and articles spread out around her like ripples in a pond. Jeanette replied with an affirmation. "Good. I want you three to bed early tonight, you hear? We're having a girl's day out tomorrow, and I want bright eyes and bushy tails!"

Brittany nodded absently, being reminded, yet again, of the day out on the town with their guardian. Jeanette turned and looked at her adoptive mother with a smile and a nod. But Ms. Miller had started in on her rambling of all the things she wanted to do and all the stores that they were going to and about how much fun it would all be. 'It's good to see her so excited,' Jeanette thought.

She sat there and read and re-read everything and looked at each picture as thoroughly as she could. Jeanette just kept on going over fact after fact until the call for dinner resounded from the kitchen. Even through the dinner, the girls were set on talking with Jeanette about her progress. And after dinner, Jeanette went straight back to her spot on the living room floor. This was absolutely going nowhere.

_"How is the search going?" Simon asked Jeanette during a chance meeting in the school library before the weekend._

_ "Not very well, I'm afraid," Jeanette replied meekly. Her heart had stopped racing whenever she was close to him, but his voice and any type of physical contact made it skyrocket still. And that was exactly what was happening. She blushed._

_ "That's a shame. But instead of focusing your energy on finding this guy, why not redirect it back to your Community Social Network?"_

_ "We need to thank him. So we're going to find him."_

_ "I thought it was decided that your actions would thank him."_

_ "Yes, we did decide on that. But we want to help him directly. Simon, do you think that perhaps this man is a professional?"_

_ Simon looked away from the book bindings he was reading. Jeanette looked down at her feet, shuffling a bit. "Professional?"_

_ "Yes. Almost as if this is all he does."_

_ Chuckling, Simon shook his head. "Jeanette, you should really consider just letting the police handle tracking this criminalistics do-gooder down. You look pretty tired, to me, and to be perfectly honest, you aren't a detective."_

_ Simon walked away and left Jeanette pondering._

"I'm not a detective," Jeanette muttered to herself. She felt forlorn and sad. A defeatist attitude was emerging with each passing day and with each unimportant detail. There was just no way she could handle the big clues and piece them together with the little clues and deduce the rest. How could the cops do it?

With a gasp, a slap to the head, and a quick search for her cellphone, she began to do a search on police methods. Soon, she had a plan. Jeanette gathered up her papers, raced all over the house to find scraps of paper, burst into her room and tore down everything from her bulletin board. Her sisters, confused by their sister's rush, gathered to watch as Jeanette wrote down each fact on a piece of paper and stuck it to the board with a tack.

Slowly, but surely, the clues were posted and her sisters read over them as she worked. "'Young. High school or college age'?" Brittany exclaimed, reading the paper that Jeanette had just put up. "That means he's about our age!" A smile appeared on her lips and an exasperated look appeared on Eleanor's at her sister's behavior.

"'Smart'. How do you figure that?" Eleanor asked Jeanette.

Jeanette stopped writing and looked at her sister. "He disguises his voice and has really thought out his attire. He also seems to know how to handle situations. It's just a hunch."

"Can't be a nerd. They're not athletic enough. 'If high school, new student'. And a list of names, huh? How come the brothers aren't on there?"

"Not likely. They are too busy spending time with each other. And I don't think Simon would be into this type of thing and wouldn't support his brothers doing it."

"I agree with Jeanette. Theodore wouldn't do it. I just found out he's scared of the dark."

The girls continued to list and discuss the clues, facts, and deductions until the entire bulletin board was full. They talked and pointed to each fact until Ms. Miller's voice rang out for the girls to get ready for bed. With sighs all around, the girls prepared for bed. Within half an hour, the entire house was asleep. Except for Jeanette.

'Probably in high school. The young vigilante of seven years ago couldn't be more than eight years old. That would make him about seventeen now. Definitely a new student. But there were so many that come and go from the school. So it must be a single child. How many are those in the school? About ten to twenty? What about his family? They must notice when he sneaks out. Or even the circumstances around the fact that this guy would seem to move with them. And he always wears the same helmet. Wait a minute!'

Jeanette threw off her covers and ran to her board, turning on her desk lamp and looking at the recent pictures of the Vigilante that the girls knew of. The helmet was completely black with a dark, tinted visor. But what first appeared to be the helmet catching some light had morphed into something else. Jeanette had noticed this earlier, but thought nothing of it at the time. There was a decal on the helmet.

"This one," Jeanette muttered to herself, pointing at a picture and looking hard at the grey decal, "is a fork and knife. And this one," she directed her attention to another photo that was close to revealing the decal, "looks like a pencil and eighth notes? Two different helmets."

Jeanette jotted down the new clue and stuck it on the board after searching the other photos. The decals weren't visible in the rest. She stared at the new clue and then at the pictures. Something still seemed a little odd. But it wasn't standing out to her what exactly it was. She sighed, turned off her light, and crawled back into bed.

Just as her eyes were going to close for rest, they sprung open again. She sat up and placed her glasses back on her face with eyes wide and moving back and forth as if she was quickly reading the answer over and over again. She ran from her room as quietly as possible, so she didn't disturb Ms. Miller, although a train wreck wouldn't wake the woman up, and she gathered her sleepy sisters back into her room.

"Better be important, Jeanette," Brittany muttered groggily. Eleanor just gave a big yawn.

Jeanette beamed at her sisters. "I have a feeling we're not looking for one person," Jeanette whispered excitedly. Her sisters looked questioningly at Jeanette before looking at each other in disbelief. "There are at least three, if not more. It's not a single person, but a group."

"What are you talking about?" Eleanor slumped down on Jeanette's bed and hunched her shoulders.

"The helmets," Jeanette indicated the two pictures, "are not the same. They have decals on the backs of them. This picture shows a fork and knife. This one, a pencil and music notes."

Brittany went to leave the room. "Great. He has a choice in mask. I'm going back to bed."

"Wait, please."

"I'm going too. Goodnight, Jeanette."

"Wait a minute," Jeanette insisted, blocking the door.

"Can you prove there are that many?" Brittany snapped. "Now move."

"I can," Jeanette breathed out. This stopped Brittany. She glanced at the wall and then at Jeanette. Jeanette watched her sister and then rolled her eyes. "The helmets aren't the proof. They are just a confirmation." Brittany turned around, sat next to Eleanor, crossed her legs and then her arms. She motioned for Jeanette to continue.

"I didn't tell you this, because I thought there was some detail that I was missing or got wrong, with the idea that the Vigilante was one person. But if the Vigilante was a group, it makes a lot more sense. The day that you blew your whistle, Brittany. I saw the Vigilante, too." Brittany opened her mouth. "At the same time you did. In a different part of the city. I heard the clock, myself. How can the Vigilante be doing his work in two places at once? Only if he was multiple."

The girls looked at each other in silence. Then at Jeanette. Finally, Brittany asked about the idea that there were at least three. Jeanette smiled and took in a deep breath to compose her thoughts. "If there were two people, then they wouldn't need decals. It would be an unnecessary idea. It would give their secret away that they were multiple. But what if, say, we were all wearing that costume and decided to meet up somewhere. I wouldn't know if I was talking to you, Brittany, or to you, Eleanor. You both would look the same. Unless I knew where to look for the distinction. For example, the back of the helmet."

"That makes sense," Eleanor whispered slowly.

"It gets better." The girls moved in closer to Jeanette as Jeanette kneeled on the floor in front of her sisters. "Remember how he fights? Just a hit or two to one person, and then the person goes down. But when Brittany saw him in the daylight, it took more hits than that. What if they attacked in group? One is seen and heard. Knocks the bad guy back out of sight and into the shadows."

"Then the other members of the group…" Eleanor began, eyes getting wide.

"Finish the job off!" Brittany finished. Jeanette nodded her head. "How did you figure this out? We didn't even have anything close to this."

Jeanette blushed at the praise of her older sister. "I just began to think about the helmets and trying to remember which one I might have seen the other day. That then led me to think about your story. And things just…clicked."

"Any other ideas, Jeanette?"

Jeanette nodded. "One more. They have to be family. They are moving with each other and continuing this work. That narrows the list of new students that entered school this year quite a bit." The girls nodded. It was decided that the following school day would be spent gathering that list of new male students and then all three went to bed to prepare for the next day's fun and excitement. One thing stuck out at Jeanette though. Eleanor had commented about it before leaving for her own room. "If you could figure this out, what about the police?" That comment scared her.

Page break

There wasn't much else that Jeanette was able to figure out in the coming week. She had compiled a list of the students who met the criteria, but stopped looking over it once she realized the other factors involved. The group could be a home-schooled group. They could be drop-outs. Private school kids from the upper side of the city. They could be homeless teens living on the streets. They didn't have to specifically be from the high school. Dead end.

She had begun to think this way after a conversation with both Simon and Alvin. She had simply been trying to talk with Simon, but Alvin had barged his way into the conversation, and kept drawing it off by bickering with Simon. There seemed to be no end with their fights. But it did help her reach her dead end, even though she remained certain that she was right.

One evening, before Eleanor was to begin making dinner, the girls were just finishing their homework when Brittany stood up with fierce determination in her eyes. The Vigilante had almost been caught again the night before after receiving a pretty hard hit to the stomach with a two-by-four, and had, once again, escaped out of sheer luck.

"What's wrong, Brittany?" Jeanette asked quietly.

Brittany just stood there. Her face cemented into a frown and her eyes furrowed. It was almost as if she was watching her savior being carried off by the police, and only her words could save him. "We're going out," she whispered more to herself than anyone else.

"What did you say?" Eleanor had leaned in closer to Brittany.

"We're going out!" Brittany commanded. "We're not getting anywhere by just hunting for them. So we're going to go find them ourselves. Let's go."

"But Brittany!" Eleanor and Jeanette called after her. The girls began to try and persuade their sister that they would never find him in the city and that it was dangerous and they were still pretty much grounded for the last time they were out. Brittany dismissed it all.

"What do you want to do, then? Wait until he's arrested!? I'm not going to sit on my butt and let that happen. I will fight. I will do anything to keep him out there and giving us all hope that something can be done. I will stand behind him. There must be something that I can do and I will do it. I'm going, whether you girls come with me or not."

"But like Eleanor said, it's such a big city! It will be pure luck if you find them."

Brittany had just finished putting on her coat and looked over at her sisters with a smile. "But trouble always seems to find me. And they always chase trouble."

With one moment of thought, and a quick decision to throw caution to the wind, the other girls followed suit and soon, all three were walking the streets carefully, their whistles in their hands, keeping a sharp eye out for danger or the Vigilante. And for about half an hour, things were going good.

But the wind was cold. The night air chilled them pretty well, and their feet were getting tired from walking around. Sounds of the city would startle them every once in a while, and their nerves started to wear thin. It was a miserable idea, and the two youngest were anxious to just return home. After two hours, they were wishing for nothing else. But the eldest kept on.

With every whistle blow that they heard, they followed with quick steps. But it was always a police appearance and not the Vigilante. It could have been that the Vigilante was lying low since the force had grown in number recently and everyone seemed to be signaling with their whistles. It was very likely, especially since one of the vigilantes was recently injured, that they were just nursing their wounds.

A third hour passed before Brittany stopped in her tracks. She looked ahead, the fire leaving her eyes and a hefty sigh weighing her down. "We're not going to find them," she finally muttered. She turned and looked at her exhausted sisters. "Let's go home."

Jeanette smiled sympathetically. Eleanor rolled her eyes and was about to groan when her breath caught in her throat and her eyes went wide. She quickly pulled on her sisters and pointed to the second story of an abandoned building. Above an alley, using an old fire escape, a figure in black was climbing up to the third story. Brittany and Jeanette gasped and with quick looks, the girls ran to the ladder.

It was rickety and barely looked like it would hold their weight. Glancing up, they could see one of the men heaving a window open. They were about to lose sight of him. Brittany climbed up first, trying to remain quiet. Eleanor quickly followed. Jeanette, unsteady in her athleticism, brought up the rear. One rail at a time. One hand over the next. Breathing becoming a little labored from all three girls. One story passed. Then two. Finally, they reached the window. It was still opened.

Brittany shuffled through, turned to help Eleanor, and then the two girls helped their clumsier sister up and through. Once they had their feet firmly on the floor, they dusted themselves off and looked around the dim room they were in. From what they could tell, it was dusty, old, sparse of furniture, but long. It stretched the entire length of the building. But it was rather too dark to see.

"Guys?" a synthesized voice called out at the same time an electric camping lamp was lit. They could see a figure emerge from a door off to the left, holding the light in one hand and looking around with it towards the other end of the building.

"Quiet. You were followed," another voice said behind the girls. They spun around to see one of the vigilantes heaving himself through the window. The figure, upon standing, looked over the three girls and then back at his compatriot. The first vigilante spun around and the light shone visibly on the sisters. "And by the trouble-sisters, too."

"Fantastic. Why don't you invite the cops to our little home while you're at it," a third said, swinging himself easily through an open window on the other side of the room. The three vigilante's moved closer to each other. Jeanette's heart was racing, but she was conscious enough to notice that the one now moving away from the sisters had a medicinal staff as a decal.

"I didn't mean to, Captain! It was clear when I was climbing." He turned his head. He had a fork and knife. 'The one called Captain must have the pencil,' Jeanette thought, pushing up her glasses.

"You check. Double check. Triple check! You just need to check, Cook-y! Doc, get them outta here."

The helmet with the medical staff turned around to face them. "Get on home." Jeanette stared more intently at them. They were standing fairly close to each other. And they were different heights. "We appreciate what you are probably doing, but just get out of here." Captain and Cook-y were starting to pack things away. Doc was moving towards them, trying to push them out.

"You touch me, you're dead," Brittany stated. Doc stopped moving for a moment, obviously assessing her threat. At least, that's what she thought until she heard him chuckle. "I mean it. I'm not leaving until I do what I want to do."

By this time, Captain and Cook-y were laughing as well. The sound was strange, three very similar, synthesized voices laughing in the room. But it was pissing Brittany off. "Stop laughing!"

"You're about as threatening as a mouse," one said.

"No, no. She has some fight, so maybe a rat?" another said. Brittany shot them all a look that could kill as they continued laughing.

"Nah, she has some claws. Probably a kitten. I would like to hear her purr, though." The third also had to chime in.

"We just want to help you!" Eleanor demanded of them. They stopped laughing and looked in their directions. It was hard to tell where they were really looking with their masks on. "We could give you food or money. Maybe we could help you fight."

The boys were off laughing again. Cook-y was holding his stomach and both he and Captain were leaning on each other. Now Eleanor was getting pissed. Jeanette just watch, quietly, timidly, and observed everything. But Brittany was ready to fight now. "I can't believe I wanted to help you idiotic jerks!"

"Better head on to that village then."

'What?' Jeanette thought. The boys were laughing hard and her sisters were beginning to argue with them. But did one of them just say what she thought they said? She began to really look at them. One was obviously the most athletic, climbing up the side of the building without the ladder, and he was the leader. The short one was absentminded and seemed childish a bit. And his helmet had a fork and knife. Then the tall one. Doc.

She placed her hand on her heart. It was beating faster than normal.

"I'm sorry," she chirped in. She waited until the boys had their fun making fun of her willingness to now speak. At least, probably two of the boys. She stepped forward. "We've made things harder on you. You now have to find a new hide-out. I'm sorry. We just wanted to do something to show our thanks. You have really helped us." She took another step forward. She watched as Doc turned his head to Captain and Captain did the same.

"I promise," Jeanette continued. "We will stop looking for you. We will stop trying to learn your identities. Please, just allow us," she gulped and looked down at her shoes. She was finding them very interesting recently, "to show one gesture of thanks. A handshake?"

Her sisters stared at her incredulously. The boys seemed to shrink back from her and stared turning their heads, from one to another. Then Doc's arms began to flail a little, pointing in her direction. Captain's did the same soon after and the two seemed to be having a heated argument over the offer of gratitude. But the girls couldn't hear it. Cook-y was trying to get in between and eventually, the three calmed down.

"One handshake," Captain agreed, holding out his hands. Cook-y followed excitedly. Doc hesitated before heaving a sigh and relenting.

Brittany and Eleanor felt ridiculous and they went from boy to boy, giving them a handshake. Jeanette started with Captain first, looking to where his eyes would be. Then she went to Cook-y. Finally, she stopped in front of Doc.

She didn't touch his hand immediately. She just looked up at him. She tried to peer past that visor and to those eyes. There was tension between the two. Her breath was hitched, but, after taking a deep one, she reached out and grabbed his hand. Her heart sped up. Butterflies appeared in her stomach. Her face blushed bright red. But she didn't take her eyes off of him. Their touch lasted only a few moments, but it felt like forever. Before she released her grip, though, she gave a shy smile and nodded her head.

She knew who they were.

The walk home was quick. The girls just wanted to get to their beds. Brittany and Eleanor, though, insisted that Jeanette tell them why she wanted to shake hands with the boys. But Jeanette simply smiled. "I promised that I would not pursue them anymore," was what Jeanette replied with as they climbed the stoop of their house.

Brittany stopped and stared wide-eyed.

"You know!"

Jeanette looked back over her shoulder at her eldest sister. "I have theories. But I made a promise, and I'm sticking to it."

**Now I think the story is rushed. There is just no satisfying me! Alas, what it is to never be content. Well, thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So I'm not very good at math-ing after a tough day. There was an error in the previous _chapter._ Instead of The Vigilante starting at age eight, it should have been **_**about**_** age ten for the "group" to be around the age of seventeen. **

**Warning! This chapter features a fairly gruesome injury to someone. And some cussing. So, be warned. And it will be a lot easier to let Alvin appear in this story after this chapter. I'm excited about that! **

Contrary to popular belief by her intimate acquaintances, Brittany Miller didn't hate all of her normal classes. There was one that she found to be reasonably tolerable, although she would die rather than to admit it. That class, her second period English class, was her way of starting off the day in the prison that she knew as school. There, she could indulge a little in writing in the daily log that their teacher made them do. It was in that log that she would pour herself into and unwind from whatever unhappy news that she personally took offense to. Yes, it was her favorite class, besides lunch and study hall.

That was until she realized that Alvin was in the class with her. That day, the second day that the boys were in the school, marked the beginning of her avid dislike of her favorite real class. She didn't even know why it took her an entire school day to notice that he was there, but had a hunch it was because of the Vigilante.

She glanced over at the seat next to her. He had his head resting on his arms, face turned towards her, mouth agape, eyes closed, and snoring ever so slightly. She thought she could see a trickle of saliva collecting on his sleeve. It was a mystery as to why he was so popular with the girls. Yet, with him soundly asleep in class, she couldn't help but find him agreeable, even with the drool leaking from his big mouth.

'Agreeable? As if'. What's so nice about a jerk who can't even appreciate a new pair of boots?' Brittany thought bitterly, reminding herself of Alvin's comments to her when he arrived in the classroom. The argument lasted a long while, but the gist of it was that Alvin thought Brittany's shoes looked cheap. Or, at least, that's what Brittany thought.

"Alvin, would you please read the next paragraph?" The teacher spoke up as soon as another student finished reading their part of Catcher in the Rye. When Alvin continued to snore on happily, the teacher glanced up from the book. "Alvin, you're next." Still, nothing.

Brittany rolled her eyes and watched as the teacher heaved a sigh, letting his arms fall to his sides with the book in one hand, watching Alvin continue. "Would someone wake up Alvin?"

A grin flashed on Brittany's face. 'Gladly. Time for some payback. Wake up Alvin, these new boots are going to walk all over you'. She turned her body and her foot shot out from behind her desk, making swift and hard contact with Alvin's shin.

Alvin woke up with a start, moved back and released some sort of painful cry and reached his hand down to hold on to his injured shin. He hissed and glared at Brittany. The class erupted in laughter, Brittany wore a smirk, and the teacher was shaking his head. "That was a bit much, Miss Miller. Mr. Seville, have you been sleeping the entire class?"

A deer caught in the headlights. That's what Alvin looked like. If he was a dog, his ears would have been flat and his tail between his legs. He fidgeted a little, darted his eyes around the room, and bit his lip. "Not the…entire class. I mean, not at all. I was just resting my eyes a bit. The lights in the room are so bright that they hurt. And…um…"

The teacher held up an open palm to Alvin, indicating his lack of desire to hear the rest. "Don't let it happen again," the teacher simply stated before calling someone else to read the next paragraph.

"Good to know some of the teachers don't buy your bologna," Brittany muttered under her breath, holding up the book and looking down at it with her smirk.

"Your jealousy is really getting old. And damn, why'd you kick me?" Alvin whispered back fiercely.

"No reason. But stiletto heels hurt," Brittany turned her face at Alvin and narrowed her eyes. "Don't they?"

Alvin couldn't do anything but glare. Until he smiled. "Glad it didn't break. Cheap heels always do that."

"What would you know about heels?"

Alvin opened his mouth to protest. "Miss Miller! Mr. Seville! One more peep out of either of you and you will be sent to the principal's office!" Well, that ended her conversation with the annoying popular boy pretty quickly. She was happy about that too. She was paying way too much attention to him already.

Jeanette felt she was in an awkward situation, at the same time that Brittany was in her infuriating one. She had her second period science class with Simon. And they sat next to each other. Even still, she knew him more than she hoped he knew.

They turned to each other and opened their textbooks, reviewing the chapter that the class was going over. There was a substitute and there wasn't much to do in the class. So, instead of following the crowd and goofing off, the two decided to review. "You haven't mentioned your project today. How is that going?" Simon muttered, jotting down a note in his notebook.

Jeanette nearly dropped her pencil as she gasped. She looked over at him, his eyes down on his book and his pencil poised and ready, much like always. 'He doesn't know,' she smiled to herself. "I met him," Jeanette muttered out, turning back to her work. She had given a promise to hide them, and she couldn't risk anyone else discovering their numbers.

He genuinely looked surprised. So much so that Jeanette felt that she might be wrong in her conclusion. Simon blinked a few times and then returned to his work. He muttered a desire to hear more about her chance meeting.

"Sorry, but I made a promise. I will not reveal anything about him to anyone. He can place his faith in me." She whispered the last part, turning red in the face. Simon tried to press the issue a little more, imploring her to break her silence, but she politely refused every time. Eventually, the two had stopped talking and returned to their work.

"There is a dance on Friday," Simon casually mumbled. "Will you be going?"

"I have to work that night."

"You have a job?" Simon glanced at her.

Jeanette nodded. "My sisters will be attending, though. Wish I could. What about you and your brothers?"

As Jeanette had already assumed, Simon shook his head. "Our dad is taking us camping. We'll be out of town."

Silence returned. She cursed her conclusion. It was making her conversation with Simon as difficult as it was when he first met her. It was frustrating. She liked talking with him, although her heart would race and she blushed often. She had begun to understand just last week, before her discovery, that she had developed a crush on the boy. Jeanette had to admit it.

Every so often, she glanced up at him; strong jaw, hand moving his pencil quickly across the paper, dark hair falling into his face, and dark bags under his intense looking eyes. His hand stopped moving and he picked his head up from its leaning position. Jeanette turned herself away from him quickly before he could notice she was looking.

Jeanette frowned and bit her lip. 'He's exhausted. They probably go out every night for hours. And with all the whistles, and their school work…it's all my fault.'

Page Break

Work had been a little harder than usual, and it was a relief to just be at home and sitting on the couch in her pajamas, reading her newest book that she bought from a drugstore. Jeanette leaned into the corner of the couch, a cup of tea sitting on the table beside her, her legs pulled up to her chest, and both hands clutching the paperback novel. It was getting to page 100, and she knew that it was around that mark that the cheesy romance novels began to get very romantic.

Turning the page of her book, she paused to finish what was left of her tea that she had almost forgotten was there. She reveled in the taste before turning her attention back to the book anxious to see how the protagonist reacted to the shy flirtations of her noble suitor. The two characters had begun a steady friendship early on in the book and had steadily progressed to getting more intimate with each other, although painfully slowly.

Now, the protagonist, an average, run-off-the-mill girl, was mulling over the risks of falling in love with this man. He wasn't bold, or brave, or adventurous. But he had secrets. And that let him be even more of a compelling enigma, at least to the reader.

As she read, she couldn't help but to imagine the shy man to assume more of a dark haired, blue eyed appearance. He was tall and reserved, smart but quiet. He was as much a mystery to Jeanette as he was to the female lead.

Jeanette shook her head. She had to get Simon off of her mind. But he fit the picture of the male in the story so well. She glanced over her shoulder and out of the window to the street. She wondered if he was alright, but felt confident that the brothers knew exactly what they were doing. They were, after all, experienced.

Placing her book down and reached for her empty cup. She needed another if she was going to hope to relax enough to fall asleep. She walked to the kitchen, poured some water into the cup, and placed it in the microwave. She watched the cup turn around as the microwave heated the water, and as she did so, Jeanette felt disappointed that she didn't buy the kettle she saw in the store recently that was on sale. It may have been a placebo effect, but tea from a kettle always tasted better than tea from the microwave.

Something flashed across the window. Jeanette peered out of it, past her back yard, and down the alley as far as she could see. There was a light moving about the alley quickly. Feeling brave, she ran for her whistle, through the kitchen, and out the back door and onto the small porch. She looked around the back yard, holding her whistle close to her mouth and preparing to blow it.

Voices were calling to each other. Footsteps were getting louder as they came nearer to her house. They were running. The light must have been their flashlights. Something was happening and her heart began to pound in her rib cage. It was even more important that she was ready to blow her whistle. But not until she could see who was coming her way.

The light disappeared and the running stopped, but the voices kept on. Then something dove over the fence and right into her back yard. The black figure stumbled back, fought its way to its feet, and ran to the far corner of her yard with staggering feet. Then it hunched down to the ground and stopped moving, leaning its side against her house and trying to appear as small as possible near the garbage can. Whatever it was, was hiding.

It was almost reflex. The mouth was in her mouth and her cheeks were puffed out to let out her cry of alarm. But something prevented her from it. She slowly moved to the side of the house on her porch. She reached out to the railing carefully and peered over it. The whistle dropped from her mouth.

"Hey you! Have you seen anyone run past here?" an abrupt voice called out to her. Jeanette whirled around to face the alley. A light was flashing directly into her eyes and she held up her hands to stop the blinding light. She looked over the railing again. He was ready to run again, but was waiting for her to call back.

"Yes," Jeanette stuttered out. She pointed further down the alley. "That way."

The cops began to order themselves and they took off running down the streets. Jeanette waited until they were gone before peering over the railing again and getting a good look at the medical staff on the back of his helmet. She leaned down close. "You're alright now. They're gone."

Doc sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall of her house. He rested his covered head against the wall as well. Jeanette could hear his labored breathing. "Are you alright?" She slowly climbed over the railing and lowered herself down until her feet touched the soft grass below. He was right next to her. And his breathing was still heavy through the synthesizer. She knelt down.

The jacket was leather and he wore black leather gloves. His footwear was a pair of black sneakers. The helmet shimmered in the distant light from the street. And he wore regular blue jeans with black streaks. 'They look wet,' she commented to herself as she reached out to give him a supportive touch to his shoulder. He flinched. And he gasped.

Jeanette's eyes grew wide. She searched his body until she saw it. His hand was holding his side. The jacket in that location was wet and what was obviously blood was staining his pants. Those were the black streaks. "C'mon," she whispered to him, trying to pull him immediately to his feet. "Come inside. You're safe." She kept on reassuring him until he allowed her to help him.

In the kitchen, she insisted that he remove his jacket. With a struggle, he removed his gloves and he unzipped the zipper and, with Jeanette's help, shrugged off the jacket, revealing a light blue tee-shirt that was sticking to his body from perspiration and blood. The wound was on his right side, just below the rib cage. And just from a glance, it was bad. She helped him to the floor and against a wall.

Carefully, she lifted his shirt to get a better look. It was really bleeding out. The cut looked to be about an inch long. Jeanette, without realizing she wasn't wearing any protective gloves, touched the wound to get a better look with quivering and unsteady hands. Her breath was shaky and nervous. It was bad. The wound was deep.

Doc began to try to move his hands, but Jeanette just knocked them down. They would rise up again, and still Jeanette would stop him. She was thinking and very uncertain. A small kitchen cut or scrap to the knee was one thing, but this was something that an emergency professional needed to be involved with. A high school student with no background training wasn't prepared for something this bad. Doc moved his hands again and tried to say something. She shushed him, and ran to the bathroom to get a towel. She tripped turning around, but picked herself back up and got herself over to him, pressing the towel to his injury. He whispered something.

"What?" Jeanette asked in a breathless voice, staring into the visor with wide eyes. Her hands were shaking more and more as she thought about what she had to do.

"Can't…breathe…" he voiced quietly and in between breaths. He lifted his hands again and they searched under the helmet to remove the strap. Once he did so, she watched as he attempted to remove the helmet from its perch with great difficulty.

Timidly, she reached up, leaning over slightly. Her hands were shaking and his blood seemed to be smeared everywhere on his body and on her hands. There was something strange about removing his mask. She understood that he felt the need for fresh air. She knew who was under that mask and who was on her kitchen floor. She had accepted that she was breaking the law. But placing her hands on that helmet and removing it seemed so alien. But, none-the-less, she gathered her courage and gripped the sides of the helmet carefully, her hands sliding on the glossy surface from her sweat. He lowered his to her wrists and, together, his helmet was off and dropped on to the floor.

He inhaled deeply through his mouth, his head going back and his eyes closed. His dark hair clung to his scalp with perspiration, his face was pale and clammy, and his parted lips were chapped. He ran his hands through his wet hair and opened his stormy, steel grey eyes. After a moment, he moved his hands to the towel and pressed down against the injury before directing his limited vision to the girl next to him. He furrowed his eyebrows and squinted, trying to make her out from the colors and other shapes in the kitchen.

"You need to go to the hospital," Jeanette muttered to him, staring into his eyes and trying to keep her voice steady. He looked down, removing the towel, to try to get some sort of look at the wound. He tried to move closer to see it, but it was no use. He placed the towel back on and groaned.

"May I borrow your glasses for a moment, Jeanette?" Simon quietly asked. "I don't have mine."

Jeanette pulled the frames from her face, unsure whether they would help Simon to see anything or not. It was extremely likely that her prescription was very different from his. He felt for her hand and then the frames. He held them up to his face and then directed them and his own eyes to try to get some look at the wound. With a sigh, he handed back the glasses to Jeanette. It was as bad as he thought, and in any other circumstance, he would have agreed with Jeanette. But he couldn't.

Simon shook his head at Jeanette. "I might get arrested. I can't go. I…will be arrested."

He was right. It would be a little hard to explain the wound and her own involvement. The police already knew he was in the area. And they probably knew that the Vigilante was injured, if Simon was certain that jail would be the place he would go. But the bleeding wouldn't stop. It was deep. And he could easily die.

He could die. She shook her head and retrieved her cell phone from the counter. She sat on the floor next to him and made to dial the number. His hand grasped hers. She looked up. He was still very pale and clammy, but his eyes were attempting to focus on her in a silent plea. "I've patched up worse," he muttered. "That's why I'm 'Doc'." His voice was weak and tired.

Glancing at the phone and then back to him, she argued with herself. Here was her school crush, a criminal wanted by the police for vigilantism and injured from a fight, in pain and in desperate need of a medical professional, insisting to her not to call for help while he continued to bleed on to her towel. She was already in feeling guilty for hiding him and assisting him, but she didn't want him to be sent away. Jeanette also didn't want to feel guilty for his possible death for not doing what was right when she could have saved him.

"Please."

Taking in a shaky breath, she nodded and decided against her better judgment. She was already in a lot of trouble. Why not help him out when she could, repay her debt back to him, and become even closer to him. There was a problem, though, and that was the fact that she had no experience with this at all. "What do I do?"

He went step by step, explaining to her what she needed to do. She was panicky the entire time, and her hands were very unsteady and would not be brought back under her complete control. But Simon was patient after he realized there was no way he could do it himself without his own glasses, and wearing his helmet was not an option. Several times, Jeanette would cry out that she couldn't do it, usually after a wince or sharp intake of breath from Simon. But he encouraged her.

What seemed like three hours later, but was really only about half an hour, she was in the process of stitching him up. "When do your sisters get home?" Simon asked after another flinch from pain.

"They won't be tonight. They're with friends." She replied quietly and nervously.

"Your parents?"

"Working. Won't be home until 2."

"And the time now?"

"11:20."

Simon nodded. It was probably something he would have thought about earlier if he wasn't distracted by something else. Sure, he still had worries. But there was nothing else he could do at the moment. He had to take a chance in this girl and take a risk that his choice would be the best one.

After another ten minutes, she had placed a make-shift bandage on him and helped him to the living room. Simon insisted that he should leave the entire time, but she was adamant about his resting a bit longer before she would allow him to go home. He was still very pale, probably from blood loss and his physical exertion from the night's activities. She plopped him down on the couch and slowly went back into the kitchen to clean up the mess. She also placed his things in a plastic grocery bag, periodically looking in on her guest, lying his head back on her couch and breathing relatively steadily.

Her nerves were still on end. They had been the entire time and they had taken over so much that she didn't even realize that she was feeling light headed or scared. Now, with Simon's bleeding under control and with the evidence of his visit almost completely removed, she was aware of the fear. She couldn't place it at first. She thought that it was from the fact that she had participated in an illegal activity. Then she thought it was the fact that she had messed up the 'patch job' as Simon called it. Finally, and with a sigh of frustration, she realized it was her own crush on him that made her afraid that he was truly going to die. Jeanette finished gathering his belongings and set them down beside the doorframe that lead from the kitchen to the living room.

Once finished, she mentioned to Simon she was going to change very quickly. She bounded up the stairs in a hurry, took off her dirty pajamas, and washed her hands, arms, and face in the bathroom. She then placed on another set after making sure all the blood was off of her. It was a little too cool for her summer pajama shorts and tee-shirt, but they were all she had. She then went down stairs and stood at the entrance to the living room.

_Beep beep beep_

She looked around. Something was making a long and deep toned sound. It was very unfamiliar. Then it went off again. The sound was repeating itself, three beeps, and then silence for about five seconds. Her eyes looked over at Simon, still stationed on her couch, and then at the bag on the floor. Her eyes grew wide. 'A cellphone!'

She tentatively and cautiously looked over at Simon, thinking about saying something to him. He didn't seem to hear the noise and just remained still. Jeanette knelt down to dig through the bag for the source of the beeping. She scolded herself, but the thought of a phone was too appealing to her. She needed to contact his family somehow, and the phone would be the way to do it.

The sound stopped. But Jeanette kept digging through the bag for anything that looked like it would hold a cell. It was in the right hand pocket of his jacket, held inside by a zipper. It was a smartphone, with a good sized touch screen and very little else. The cover of it was blue.

It took some tinkering on her part, but she managed to unlock the screen. Her eyes grew wide at the indicator icon to alert the owner of the phone of fifteen missed calls. They were probably all from the same person or persons. After a little more fiddling with the phone on her part, she could see the missed calls and she confirmed her suspicions. They were all from Alvin.

She touched the picture of Alvin and held the phone to her ear, her heart beating fast, holding the phone with white knuckles and her eyes closed, listening to the rings. What was she going to say? How was she going to tell Alvin who she was, what had happened, and what he had to do now? How was she going to convince him that they were all safe with her? It didn't seem like Alvin knew that she knew their real identities. But then again, Simon seemed to take everything in stride with his helmet off.

Glancing back at Simon, she thought. 'He knew.'

"Where in the hell are you!?" a voice shouted into the phone in a hushed whisper after only a couple of rings.

"Um…hello?" Jeanette stuttered out. She was still unsure of what to say and was put off even more with the tone of the recipient's voice. But the recipient seemed to go silent at this.

"Who is this?" he asked, darkly. "Who!? If you have done anything to him, I swear to god I will rip your face off and feed it down your throat! Where is my brother?" Alvin continued to get worked up, cursing and making threats into the phone as he went.

"Please…wait…listen, he's…wait a minute, please…I know how this seems, but if you would…please, stop talking," Jeanette kept on asking the voice. But he seemed to have carried himself off into a land where she couldn't reach him. She could hear another voice in the background, demanding and begging to know what was going on. 'Theodore is there, too'. "I said, wait a minute!" Jeanette screamed into the phone, surprising herself, Alvin, and Simon. He looked in her general direction and made to move from the couch. She walked briskly over to him and pushed him back down, taking a deep breath.

"Alvin, I am Jeanette Miller."

"Miller?"

"Yes. Brittany's sister. Simon is hurt. He doesn't look too good. Could you please come and get him?"

Alvin was silent, taking in everything that he had just heard. It wasn't a lot of information for her to get across, but it said a bunch and left open a lot more questions. But the first thing was first. "Where is he?" he asked in a quieter tone.

Jeanette took a deep breath. He was staring at her intently, squinting his eyes to try and put her into focus. She nodded as she looked towards the clock on the wall. It read a little after midnight. "My house. 403 Sycamore. Please hurry. My mother gets home at 2." Just before she predicted he would hang up the phone, she managed to squeak out to bring Simon's glasses. Simon just remained quiet as he continued to squint at her. She ended the call and tenderly sat down on the couch next to Simon.

They sat in silence for a little while. Jeanette tucked her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. She placed her chin on her knees and glanced at Simon. He was looking straight ahead and remaining as still as he could. She thought that the silence would last the entire time. "I'm sorry. For getting you into this," he mumbled out. "To be honest, I never should have followed you in here. And I shouldn't have stayed this long."

Jeanette was a little taken back, but not much. She felt empathy for him. "Don't feel sorry. You wouldn't have been able to stop me from helping." She muttered out a reply to him, trying to sound like she meant it in the entirety. But she knew she was half-lying. He could have persisted more. Probably if he wasn't as injured and as exhausted as he was. "I'm sorry for going through your phone."

"Sorry, about Alvin. He's a bit protective."

"I'm sorry about not calling him sooner. It would probably have been easier."

"No, I'm sorry that…" Simon stopped talking. He turned at looked at Jeanette and she perked up, looking back at him. He let out a soft chuckle and a smirk. "I think that we're both plenty sorry, don't you agree?"

Jeanette lowered her guard again and nodded, giggling with him. "Can we go on to conversing about surprises?" Simon nodded. "I was shocked that you let me take off the helmet."

He settled down and began to mutter again. "You already knew. There was no point in hiding it and I just couldn't breathe with that on." She nodded her head. He did know. "How did you figure it out? I knew you were getting close."

"The decals on your helmets let me believe there were at least three of you guys. Then when we met you all, your heights and conversation with each other gave it away, along with a few other insignificant clues." Jeanette drifted off at the end. She looked down at the floor past her feet, thinking of her heart and how it raced around Simon. But at the moment, it was very steady. She glanced at him through the corner of her eye. His eyes were closed again and his brows furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"Yea," he breathed out. "Not one to complain, but I'm in a fair amount of pain and everything being so fuzzy is giving me a headache. That, or the blood loss."

Jeanette looked concerned and tried to think of what she could get him to help. She was about to just search the house when he spoke again. "I promise, no one besides my brothers and I will know about this."

"It's okay. I trust you."

"I do, too."

'He trusts me. I've shown that I can be trustworthy! Maybe I can get a few answers?' Jeanette cleared her throat and leaned in a little bit closer to Simon. "Do you mind if I ask a few questions?" He shook his head. "Why do you do this?"

"That's rather personal," he cleared his throat. She could see him gulp. "But I guess we're into that stage of friendship, at least after tonight. My brothers and I were famous when we were little. That's good and bad. I won't tell you the good stuff. One of the bad things is that there are those who hate you or are drawn to you. Well, long story short, something bad eventually happened to one of us. The police didn't do anything. So the other two decided to take justice into their own hands and we kept on to help others."

"But for eight years?"

"We've only been doing this for about as long as we have been in the school."

Jeanette shook her head. A small smile was on her lips. "No, you've been doing this for years. I've been researching you."

Simon gave in with a chuckle. "You're right. And keep that a secret."

"Just like everything else."

The two couldn't do anything but laugh. Once done, they attempted to look each other in the eye, but Simon was having trouble. That prompted another question. "It must be hard to do what you do without glasses. I believe you've indicated before that your eyesight is pretty horrid."

He nodded, as was his way. "They are a real pain under the helmet. And they broke once. So I concocted a solution and, in so doing, 'lost' quite a few pairs of glasses. My dad was pretty mad by the fifth pair."

She had to see the helmet that Simon had pointed to. She went over, picked it up, and examined it. Sure enough, somehow or other, Simon had rigged the visor to be tinted and to be his prescription. Jeanette tried to ask Simon how he even did, but he just smirked. She then felt at liberty to review the rest of it. Sure enough, there was a Bluetooth in it, the voice synthesizer, and a communication radio. With a few more questions, she found out that he had designed it all, but wouldn't tell her how.

A knock at the door disturbed them from their talk. Jeanette and Simon both jumped and turned towards the sound. She stood and went to the door and peered out of the window. On the porch, facing away from the door and looking up and down the street, was Alvin and Theodore. Jeanette smiled and opened the door quickly.

Both boys whirled around at the sound. Theodore frantically moved past Jeanette and into the house, finding Simon pretty quickly. Alvin just glared at her, with his hands in his pockets. She motioned for him to enter and he unwillingly did so, never taking his eyes off of her. Jeanette closed the door softly, listening at Theodore was asking Simon a million questions without letting him answer, and observing that both boys were dressed as they normally would be at school and carrying a bulging backpack. Alvin had two of them.

Jeanette stood up straight, clasped her hands in front of her, and lowered her head, keeping her eyes forward. A few second later, Alvin turned to went to stand in front of the couch with his arms across his chest, and glaring a look that would compare to the destructive force of a smart missile. Theodore was now just hugging Simon who was sporting a pained expression.

"And just what the fuck happened?" Alvin spat at Simon.

"Got a stick."

"Where?"

"Abdomen."

"Bad?"

Simon just tried to focus on Alvin before giving up. "Can I have my glasses?" Simon held out his hand expectantly.

"Is it bad!?" Alvin insisted.

"I'm not sure how bad. I couldn't _see_ it very well!"

"How did it happen?"

"Can we not go through this right now? Jeanette is expecting her mother soon. And may I please have my damn glasses?"

Alvin turned and glared at Jeanette, watching her shrink back from him a little. He leaned down and poked Simon in the forehead with his index finger, causing Simon to exclaim in bitter anger. "And why did you come here?" Alvin whispered loud enough for Jeanette to hear. Then he raised his voice, still furious. "And why didn't you call us!?"

"It was all serendipity."

"Leave it to you to use big words when you're hurt."

"It means luck. Fate. Chance! I didn't do it on purpose!"

Alvin continued to glare at Simon and Simon looked away in anger, wishing beyond anything he had his glasses and that Theodore would just get off of him. Finally, Alvin spoke again. "Full story. Right now. Then you get," Alvin held up a pair of black frames, "these. Because I know full well, Einstein, you won't say anything once you get them back."

Simon groaned. Theodore let go and looked at his brother with tears in his eyes. Alvin was defiant. Jeanette followed her curiosity and took a few steps into the living room with some distance between herself and an angry Alvin. Simon bit his lip, sighed, ruffled Theodore's hair, and then started a brief summary.

"A mile east. Whistle. Six males. One female-high school aged. Responded. One, Two, and Three went down easy. Four and Five with some difficulty. Female went traitor. Sixth male produced knife. Dodged until distracted by police. Got the stick. Ran and was pursued. Hid in yard. Discovered it was Miller's. Miller misdirected police. Patched me up. Called you."

"And you took off your helmet?"

"Jeanette already knew. She found out last week, Alvin. You were there when she did. She shook your hand." Alvin bit his lip thoughtfully and tossed the glasses into Simon's lap. Simon wiped the lenses and placed them where they should go. Upon see that Theodore had cried, Simon gave a quick comforting hug before lifting up his shirt and partially removing the bandage to look at the wound. His face obviously fell. Theodore and Alvin looked too.

"Let's get you home," Alvin muttered. He knelt down close to Simon and the two brothers shared a moment of silence before Alvin ruffled his head. Theodore got up and Jeanette handed him Simon's things. Alvin helped his brother stand and took Simon's arm around his neck. The three boys all muttered a thanks to Jeanette as they walked out of the house. Simon made sure he smiled as sweetly as he could to her and she merely blushed back.

Once they were gone, she shut up the house and walked up the stairs. She didn't say it to them directly, but that last nod that Simon gave to her before she shut the door said all that he wanted to say. He was thankful. He was sorry for his and his brothers' actions. And he was asking a final favor for her to keep this as secret as well from everyone—including her sisters. She let out a fierce yawn, realizing that she was sudden very tired. It was time for bed.

**Yet another chapter and it was long! I can't believe how fluffy this is getting between Simon and Jeanette. Man, my gender is definitely showing through. Ah well, ce la vie. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I've been having computer/internet connection issues at home, and I write on a desktop. I know, stone aged. So the last chapter was riddled with typos and other horrible little errors in English. Oh goodie!**

**So, recapping, Jeanette knows the truth. Simon is injured. Alvin and Theodore are worried. And the other girls didn't really show up. Let's see what I can do from here. Onward and forward!**

She was as good as her word. Jeanette had kept the events of Friday night completely secret from everyone and, in turn, dealt with the ongoing mystery of "the missing towel" the entire weekend. Her sisters periodically questioned her, convinced that she knew the identities of their heroes, but they couldn't make her crack. They did notice, however, that she was very distracted and seemed worried, and that her mood seemed to drastically shift for the better when they were getting ready for school on Monday morning.

Jeanette couldn't wait until her second period science class and almost ran to it once the bell that ended first period sounded off. She sat in her seat at her desk, body turned towards the door, back straight and at full attention. With each student that walked into the room, she perked up and then fell in disappointment, until the next would stroll into the room. The five minutes that spanned between periods seemed like an eternity of an emotional roller coaster that eventually settled into the lowest of lows. The bell rang and Simon wasn't in class.

That completely consumed Jeanette's entire morning in depressing and terrifying thoughts. Simon was out of school. He could have been arrested. Maybe he was more injured than originally presumed. Perhaps he was in the hospital now, dying. She probably wasn't skilled enough to help him. Things were completely at an end.

She struggled with herself, being called out in her morning classes for not paying attention to the teacher. She blushed time and time again, promising herself that she should and would pay more attention to what was going forward in class, only to fall prey to her worries again, and her constant battle of reassuring herself that the worst didn't happen. The best consolation was that if the Vigilante had been arrested, then the entire school would have been gossiping about it.

Jeanette was placing her books into her locker with a glum look. Slowly, she set a book in, letting her fingers rest on the binding, before moving on to the next. Her thoughts were still consuming her to the point that she couldn't even remember what books were needed for her afternoon classes. Yet she wasn't rushed. She knew she had her entire lunch period to figure out what her remaining three classes were. Staring at her locker contents, though, just started to frustrate her. Quickly, she pushed her backpack into it and slammed the locker door shut while her eyes glossed over.

The door had brought a red blur into the picture. She blinked her eyes and turned her head towards it. Leaning against the lockers, with his hands in the pockets of his long, khaki shorts, sporting a black shirt, red jacket, and proud, red baseball cap was Alvin. He was staring straight at the lockers across the hall, whistling some tune softly to himself. Jeanette just stared at him.

He turned his head slightly and looked at her through the corner of his blue eyes, producing a mischievous smirk that revealed a set of stellar teeth. One of his eyebrows was raised in a flirty fashion. He turned his body completely towards her and stepped in closer. Jeanette, wide eyed, just backed away slightly and stood, mouth agape, looking at Alvin.

"Yo, Alvin! What are you doing? You aren't seriously flirting with that, are you?" a boy called from down the hall. Alvin turned his head towards it and shouted a comment about how all girls needed some lovin' before turning back to face an embarrassed and slightly humiliated Jeanette.

"How ya doin'?" Alvin said through his smirk. Jeanette may not have been very familiar with the concept of flirting, but she was fairly certain that this what how it started—a greeting and a charming type of smile.

She nodded and pressed her lips together, looking down and away from him. A few of the students walking past were staring at them curiously or with a look of disgust. Alvin and Jeanette were obviously from two different sects of people and their association, whatever the purpose for it, was causing a bit of a mild riot. She was getting a little nervous. She hated the spotlight.

Alvin bit his lip and moved in just a little bit closer to her, leaning against the locker with his arm supporting his weight. The smile never left his face. "You're looking a little strange, to tell you the truth. Maybe a little fresh air and sunlight? C'mon, let's take a walk." Without another word, Alvin draped his arm around her shoulder and the two began to walk down the hall.

He stepped with absolute confidence, smiling and replying with quick remarks to the comments thrown at them. She was very unsure as to what this was all about. She stumbled a bit and tried to get further away from him, but his rather toned arm kept her in place. She just went red in the face at the close proximity and hoped that the 'walk' would be over soon so she could sink back into the shadows of anonymity. She also was growing concerned. Alvin had a pointed dislike for her after the events on Friday and now that he wished to speak to her made her a little scared.

There were coming up to a hallway that very few people used. With a quick movement, he swung them both into a little alcove by a janitor's closet, removed his arm and leaned back against the wall, checking the hallway around them as casually as he could. Jeanette merely watched him curiously, glancing around as well. Finally, he lost his smirk and directed his eyes straight into her. He wore a very serious expression.

"Listen," Alvin started. "I had to do that. People know me here as a flirt. I have to keep up that image. But, no offense, I'm not interested."

Jeanette was offended. Yes, she didn't play the 'dating game' and yes, she didn't really want to. She had other things on her mind and felt that when the time came, she would know who she wanted to be with. But being rejected, even by a playboy she wasn't remotely interested in or even knew, still stung pretty badly. She opened her mouth, but Alvin wasn't having her reply.

"He's not doing too good," Alvin continued. "Our dad is talking about taking him to the doctor if he's not better real soon. You've got to help."

'Simon.' Jeanette was dumbstruck. The worst really was happening. If this was Alvin's serious face, then Simon was in a lot of trouble, and it was all due to his injury. "You _should_ take him to see a doctor," Jeanette put in to a waiting Alvin.

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenching along with his fists. "Yea? And tell them what? Si was attacked and we decided to fix it up ourselves? That we lied about it because we didn't want to get into trouble that we wouldn't have actually been in if we went to the hospital to begin with? Our dad thinks he just has the flu. We might have been able to pull off an innocent attack story, but not anymore. That patch job is proof that we're hiding something."

Thinking back on it, Jeanette did consider that she should have just called an ambulance. She could have hid the evidence that he was who he was while he was taken to the hospital. He would have had proper medical care and would be in a lot better shape than what he probably was in now. But she was just so panicked and Simon was just so insistent that he knew what was best. She cursed herself for not listening to what she thought was the correct answer. She sighed heavily. "What do you want me to do?"

"Simple. Take another look at him."

He was very serious. He never took his eyes off of Jeanette. Jeanette was just too shocked for words. There was absolutely nothing that she could do in the situation! What Simon needed was a doctor, gosh darn the consequences. Surely his life was worth more, even with a stain on it, than this secret vigilante operation. Jeanette shook her head.

"Please," Alvin whispered. "Theo and I aren't smart enough to figure out what the hell he's babbling about half the time. The other half the time, now, he's talking crazy. Just yesterday he was freaking out because he thought he missed our little league game. We haven't played little league in years! Took both of us to keep Si from moving off his bed and to keep the baseball bat away from him. Just once more. Just take a look. If there really isn't anything you can do, then fine. Sure. We'll drag his geek ass to the hospital. Just _look_ at him."

He seemed like he was just a few minutes away from dropping to his knees to beg. "Why me?" Jeanette asked quietly.

He gave a look that questioned why she would even ask. "'Cause you're the only other one who knows how he got it and he said you're really smart." Jeanette blushed and looked away. Her eyes darted around at the floor, thinking about what could have been wrong with Simon. She thought about how she was going to even help, or what she would find. She thought about how Theodore was crying that night. And how upset Alvin had gotten. Then, she thought about how desperate Alvin was now.

Jeanette nodded her head. Alvin immediately looked relieved and nodded his own, looking away down the hall. "Cool. Thanks. Meet Theo and me by the front doors after the last bell. We'll bring you to him. And it's best…"

"I know," she interrupted quietly. "I won't say anything to anyone."

Alvin nodded and walked away, straightening up his back, head held high, and whistling his little tune again. Jeanette just stood in her spot, thinking of the task ahead of her and of how she agreed to do it in the first place. But there was no going back now. And she wanted to help in any way she could. Suddenly, she realized she was hungry after a tiny bit of relief satiated her fear. She went to walk to the cafeteria but decided to make a quick stop along the way. The library was the first place she would go.

That Afternoon

The bell had rung. For the past hour, Jeanette would fidget, stare at the clock, worry, flip through the library book, put it away, stare at the clock, pull the book out again, get called out for not paying attention, and bump into anything and everything. Her thoughts were running wild with ideas and daydreams of what she was about to do with her friend. Yet her resolution did not waver. It was just put on hold periodically in her moments of doubt.

Once that bell had rung, she scrambled out of her chair, fell on her face, was laughed at, and walked as quickly as she could out of the classroom, into the hall, down the stairs, past the school gym, and to her locker. She bit her lip. Her last class was the furthest from the door, and her locker wasn't that much closer to it. But she did have homework to do as well as her task, and she needed to get her materials.

In her hurry to get her things together and to get to the front doors, she ended up shutting her locker on her thumb, tripped over her own feet for the millionth time that day, and bumped into five people and an open door. But she prevailed and soon she was in view of the front doors.

Theodore's smiling face was searching the crowd of students and faculty and occasionally wishing his friends a good day. Alvin was a few feet away from him, putting his charming moves on three popular girls that Jeanette recognized as Brittany's friends. As soon as Theodore spotted Jeanette, his face brightened up, his smile stretched from ear to ear, and he called for Alvin's attention.

The girls were obviously offended once they realized that Alvin was blowing them off for Jeanette. As Jeanette neared, she heard him tell them in a bored tone of voice that he was just using her to pass a few classes and that he would much rather be spending his time with them. Still disgruntled, the girls turned and walked away just as Jeanette was within arm's reach of Alvin and next to Theodore. Jeanette was put off again by Alvin's cruel remarks about her. "Hi Jeanette!" Theodore greeted happily, giving her a friendly wave.

Jeanette smiled sweetly to him and greeted him back. Alvin shrugged his shoulders once she looked at him and directed them all out of the school and towards the direction of the Seville home. About a block or two from the school, Alvin finally spoke to Jeanette. "What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry. I tried to get there quickly," Jeanette excused herself, rubbing her hurt thumb before shifting her backpack to a more comfortable position. Alvin grunted in reply.

"You didn't tell your sisters? Eleanor didn't know you were coming over."

"I told her not to blab. Maybe I should have told you," Alvin rolled his eyes.

"I guess you're rude to everyone," Jeanette muttered under her breath, earning her a sharp glare from Alvin. But soon his eyes softened and he looked at Theodore who was used to Alvin's outbursts. He then looked back at Jeanette.

"I'm just…I'm just worried, you know? He may be annoying, a know-it-all, sarcastic, and a big pain in my ass, but he's still my younger brother. It's been just me, him, and Theo for a long time. Our whole lives, actually."

"The group just isn't the same without him," Theodore put in sullenly. But then he tried to brighten up upon seeing a group of people coming their way. Alvin noticed too and the two brothers began to put on a new persona, one being sweet and friendly while the other being confident and flirty. Once the group of people passed, the two looked at Jeanette before looking away again.

For the next ten minutes of walking, Theodore proceeded to chat with Jeanette about past stories of trouble that the boys had gotten themselves into. It wasn't anything that he shouldn't have been talking about, but just mischief that three boys growing up would normally be up to. Alvin put in his two cents every so often, especially when it was something that would probably make Simon mad. And in a short amount of time, Jeanette learned a lot about the boys.

They were triplets, as she already knew. They were also adopted, much like her sisters and herself. They had traveled the world and were quite popular, but had chores to do and usually went to normal schools. Alvin was always athletic and seemed to lead his brothers on various mishaps. Simon was apparently the voice of reason that was rarely listened to and was a very accomplished inventor. Theodore had an absolute passion for food and usually followed along with whatever the other two were doing.

Soon enough, the boys were opening up a little more. Alvin had commented that it was new and exciting to be able to talk with someone besides his brothers about their work. He seemed proud in it and his love of the spotlight was dying in not being able to take credit for the rescues. But these tales were very brief, very vague, and very quietly spoken. And with every passing person or group, the boys would immediately change subject and assume their personas that weren't all that different from their normal personalities.

The neighborhood that they were eventually entering into was not incredibly upscale, but was definitely a better part of the city than what the girls lived in. The houses were neat, lawns mowed, and houses were painted. There were few potholes in the street and kids seemed to be playing around while parents kept close watch on them. She asked what their parents did when she discovered some new facts. The boys didn't have a mother and that their father was a pretty popular record producer. But their dad didn't really care for glitz and glam, and tried to give his boys as normal as a life as possible. One other thing that she noticed but didn't comment on was that the boys didn't use the word 'dad' but the name 'Dave'.

"Here we are!" Theodore exclaimed, escorting Jeanette up a walkway lined with quaint bushes up to a fairly good-sized white house with brown shutters. The drive way was empty and there was a garage attached to the house. The place looked inviting and friendly. Jeanette couldn't help but smile at it all. She never had friends that lived in something like this, but kind of dreamed about it.

"Welcome to _chateau de Seville_," Alvin commented, bowing a little and gracefully moving his hand in the direction of the door. Jeanette eyed him curiously. Alvin rolled his eyes. "I'm not failing all my classes. Open the door, Theo," Alvin ordered, peering up at the youngest boy and changing the subject quickly. Theodore looked a little taken back before he slung his bag around and began to dig through it for his house keys. He was grumbling a little too, as to why Alvin didn't open the door. Alvin just stated that he forgot his keys.

"Glad that I actually remembered today, or else we would have been stuck out here until Dave came home. What do we normally do?"

"Simon opens the door."

"…Right."

The boys were quiet and Theodore continued the search. Jeanette just stared awkwardly at the somber brothers. Alvin was the adventure, Theodore was the life, and Simon was the responsibility. They fed off each other and the Seville's were all painfully aware when one was missing. Finally, with a very small, triumphant grin, Theodore produced his key and the door was unlocked and opened. Both boys stepped aside and looked expectantly at Jeanette. "After you," they both said.

Taking a deep breath, Jeanette straightened her back and took one step in front of the other. Simon was in there. He was in there and in trouble. She was here to help him. She told his brothers that she would. All she had to do what cross the threshold, find him, and 'take a look' to see what she could do. And her feet moving was the first part of the entire plan.

"Wait just a damn minute!" a cry rang out over the three of them. Alvin and Theodore snapped their heads up towards the street and Jeanette spun around. Brittany was storming up the path with Eleanor following behind quickly. Fire was raging in Brittany's eyes and she stared Alvin down. Alvin gladly returned the gesture. Especially since she had obviously followed them.

"What are you doing here, Miller?" he snapped. He shifted his eyes to Jeanette and then to Theodore. Jeanette was very surprised and Theodore looked serious, looking back to Alvin and then at Brittany again.

"What am I doing here? What is she doing here!?" Brittany gestured to her sister. "Seville, this is low, even for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about!? You pop out of nowhere, asking Jeanette to help tutor you, or whatever, don't tell me or Ellie, her _sisters_ about it, and you don't know what I'm talking about? I got you figured out, Seville, and this is low. You are not going to do _anything_ to my little sister!"

Brittany was up in Alvin's face, their noses just inches from touching, standing in between the Seville brothers and Jeanette. Everyone besides Eleanor seemed to have no idea what Brittany was carrying on about. Yet, Eleanor was carefully trying to pull Jeanette away from the house and the two boys, eyeing Alvin angrily and looking hurt at Theodore.

"Once again, what the hell are you talking about, Miller?"

"You can't get me, so you're going to do something horrible to Jeanette. Try denying that!"

"Easily! I deny it. Who would want you, anyway? You're the biggest drama queen in the school. Now get out of here!"

"Brittany, please," Jeanette attempted to reason with her irate sister. "I'm just here to…tutor…Alvin. That's all. I'll be home a little later. It's okay."

Brittany, as fast as lightning, turned on her sister. "You're lying! You're the worst liar ever, Jeanette. What are you here for!?"

Jeanette sighed. Alvin and Theodore were imploring her with their eyes to get her sister off their backs. "I'm…" Jeanette began to stutter out. Brittany was obviously getting impatient and getting angrier by the second. She couldn't deny it, she knew she was a bad liar. So she decided to tell the truth. At least, half the truth. "I'm here to see Simon. He's out sick."

"Is that what it is!?" Brittany wasn't buying it. Jeanette nodded her head. Alvin and Theodore just went along with the story. "Why didn't you just say so instead of that bull about tutoring Alvin?"

"Alvin told his teachers that he is getting tutoring." Theodore saw an opportunity.

"Two birds with one stone. I get Simon off my ass about getting his homework and I get the teachers off my ass about failing class." Alvin grinned in victory. This was a good one.

Brittany crossed her arms, looking at all three of them. Eleanor was believing the story happily and was feeling a little relieved that her friend wasn't up to any type of fiendish plot to make Brittany mad and do something horrible to her gullible sister, Jeanette.

"So," Alvin continued, reaching out to take Jeanette by the elbow and pulling her closer to the entrance of the house, "if you don't mind, I have things to do today."

"Not so fast," Brittany grabbed Jeanette's other arm and pulled her back to her. "She's not going in there alone."

"You don't need to be here, Miller."

"And neither does she. That's a stupid reason."

"Their friends. And she wants to visit."

"I thought it was for homework."

"It is!"

"Then she doesn't need to go in there!"

"Will you just go home, Brittany?"

"No! If I go, then she goes. End of story!"

"Brittany…"  
"No, Jeanette. That's the end of that."

Alvin was downright angry. Brittany was being stubborn. Theodore and Eleanor were just watching the fight. And Jeanette was right in the middle of it all. And it was all because the Seville's had a secret that only Jeanette knew of. And she was needed. She looked at Alvin. She had to get in to see Simon. And Alvin seemed to understand. He needed Jeanette right now, and if Brittany had to come along as well, then so be it. "Fine," he relented. He pulled both girls into the house and Theodore and Eleanor followed. The door closed.

Standing at the entrance, the boys dropped their bags and took off their shoes. The girls followed and looked around the house. It was nice. There were pleasant decorations, tasteful furniture, spacious rooms, carpets and hardwood flooring, and a distinct lack of the lace doilies that the girls grew up around. But Jeanette wasn't given a lot of time to look. Alvin was almost immediately in front of her. He indicated a stairway behind him. "Second door on the left," he muttered seriously. Jeanette nodded, dug through her bag for her library book, and walked up the stairs nervously, not caring if anyone was following her, but paying close attention to her steps, her breathing, and her racing heart.

**Whew. Another one done. And not as long as the last one. I have to do some serious thinking though. I know where this story is going, but I have to put something else in to get there, and I'm not sure what. But I'm a creative fellow. I got this. Hope you enjoyed and can't wait to write the next one!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Drama, drama, drama. That's all what my life seems to be right now. Ah well. On to the next.**

**And wow, thanks for the wonderful reviews! I'm glad that you all seem to be enjoying this, and, frankly, I was a little stuck. I didn't know how I really wanted to continue, but now I do. You have inspired me! So thanks and a round of applause to you all!**

She stopped abruptly just as she reached the second door on the left. Then she was pushed forward slightly. Jeanette turned around to see a line of people following her and her sudden stop had caused a literal domino affect with them all. But all of them were silent. The boys were somber and just stared at her. Her sisters were openly curious, but could detect the tense atmosphere and refused to break the silence.

Jeanette turned and looked at the door. She didn't know why, but she thought that there would have been something significant about it. Perhaps high tech locks or scanners or something that would have indicated that the boys were who they were and that Simon was the techy among them. But the neat, blank, wooden door was just that, a door. Made of wood and complete with a door knob. And nothing special about it. It was just a door.

Then she thought about it. It was a door, but it lead into a room. A bedroom. That belonged to a boy. A boy that she had a huge crush on. And he was inside. Not expecting her in the least and probably in a…compromising situation. Maybe bed ridden, sweating, and groaning in absolute pain and agony.

"What are you waiting for?" Eleanor asked. Theodore nodded his head in agreement. Brittany had just pulled out her phone and was busy texting someone, slightly losing a bit of interest. But her eyes kept on glancing sideways. And Alvin was quiet, now leaning against the wall and in deep thought. Jeanette could see the gears turning. She turned her attention back to the door.

'You don't see oak doors like this anymore,' she thought to herself, her eyes following the intricate weave and lines of the grain. A knot hole popped up every once in a while. 'The craftsmanship is remarkable for such an ordinary door.' That wasn't quite true. It was a simple off the line door that could have been bought at any home improvement store. 'And the handle is very nice.'

Alvin rolled his eyes and huffed. He moved past Jeanette after figuring out she would just be standing there all day and opened the door, stepping away again and staring pointedly at her. Jeanette was a little surprised and looked at him. He directed her with a swift jerk of his head to the room. She slowly turned her eyes towards it.

It was neat, for the most part. There was a desk against the side wall that had a pretty expensive looking laptop and some books. A bookshelf was on the other wall with a chair near it. An old chalkboard with some algorithms written on it stood right next to it. The floor had some discarded clothing, but not many, and a few other odd and ends that didn't seem normal, along with a baseball glove. Against the far wall and under a window with blue curtains and blinds drawn was a quaint little bed with blue covers. The covers were pulled back, but the bed was empty.

She gave a gasp and within a split second, five heads were all in the doorframe, looking around the unoccupied room. Theodore and Alvin shared a quick look of concern that didn't go unnoticed by Jeanette. Brittany rolled her eyes a bit at the drama and Eleanor was slightly confused, but was thinking through possibilities. "Where did he go?" Alvin demanding, moving into the room to get a better look around.

A throat cleared behind him and five pairs of eyes were focusing on a tired, feverish looking teenager, wearing a white tee-shirt and dark blue shorts. His feet were bare and he was lightly gripping his right side, staring back at them all through his glasses. "Can I help you?" His voice was weary.

"What are you doing out of bed!?" Alvin moved like lightning, now standing in front of his brother and eyeing him. "Where were you going?" He whispered quietly, now afraid of some sort of random delusion.

Simon nodded his head to a closed door on the right hand side of the hallway. Alvin looked away and nodded knowingly. Theodore had popped up next to Simon and had his arms around him, trying to support his brother's weight although it looked as if Simon was just fine standing on his own. The boys seemed to have had a huge conversation with themselves in the matter of moments, and Jeanette looked at them as their subtle eye and head movements seemed to be how they were doing it. Finally, a real voice was heard and it was Simon's. "We have guests?"

That snapped the whole picture into perspective. The three boys, who probably didn't have many close friends that they invited over, now had three strange girls standing in their upstairs hallway staring at them in interesting ways. Alvin regained his cool. He had to find some way to get Brittany and Eleanor out of the house, or at least out of the way, until Jeanette did what she came here to do. With the way that Brittany was acting today, however, and the fact he pulled a pretty nasty prank on her earlier, it was going to be difficult. She wasn't going to budge with her little sister in his house.

"Yea. Jeanette told me she wanted to give you the _homework_ that you missed today. And Brittany and Eleanor just wanted to make sure that she got here okay. Maybe you two should get a crack at it, you know? Jeanette can probably fill you in on what you missed." Simon just looked at Jeanette and then nodded once, showing that he understood all of the message.

He moved his way away from Theodore and went to go into his room and Jeanette made to follow. Brittany and Eleanor seemed content about following them when Alvin got in their way. "You know, you guys are our first guests in this house. How about some refreshments? Make yourselves comfortable. It might take them a while. You know how smart people are. Hey, Theo! Maybe you can give them a tour of the house while they wait?" Alvin was talking fast and Jeanette thought that he would have made a good car salesman, or maybe would make one once they got into the work force.

His command over his brothers seemed absolute. Theodore immediately jumped into the act, talking about how the house was great. He managed, in his friendly way, to lead the girls away from the door and down the stairs. "Don't forget to show them the backyard! And the pool! And the basement! There are many places. Don't leave out a single one!" Alvin called out after them.

The look of suspicion that Brittany gave Alvin over her shoulder was priceless. But thanks to Theodore and his happy-go-lucky nature, she continued on away from the room and Jeanette. Alvin smirked and congratulated himself of his achievement before turning and walking into Simon's room.

"That should keep them busy for a while," Alvin muttered, stationing himself behind Jeanette. Jeanette was sitting on the edge of Simon's bed with Simon right next to her. She had placed her book down on the other side of her and she and Simon were chatting with each other. Once Alvin had made his statement, Simon relaxed a little bit and the two went silent.

"You could have told me you were bringing her over."

"When? While I was running after you last night? How did that game go, by the way? Did you win?"

Simon glared at Alvin and Alvin returned it. Jeanette didn't want to lose any time. With her sisters here, she had less time than she originally thought she had. A lot less time. And she really didn't know what to make of Brittany's behavior. It was unlike her. Sure, Brittany loved her sisters and Jeanette knew that, but Brittany wasn't usually all that persistent. Something about Alvin must really get to her. Jeanette cleared her thoughts. She had a job to do.

"You have a fever?" she began, looking up at Simon, calling back his attention. Simon muttered a reply and told her that it had been high, but was better today. He then, after being implored to continue, told her a few other symptoms. Jeanette was pulling out her library book on medicine, searching through it.

A few more questions, some even on Alvin's part, and Jeanette had finally come to terms with what she wanted to avoid. She needed to see the injury. There was no other way. She had some ideas as to what was wrong, and she was sure Simon knew as well, but she had to see it. She cleared her throat and looked up at him with her pretty green eyes. "Simon, I need to see it."

"Alright, show her." Alvin folded his arms and looked expectantly. Even he hadn't see it since that night.

Simon looked away in a panic and blushed a bit. "It's really nothing. And besides, this entire thing is a little…"

"Off with the shirt."

"It can be done without taking it off!"

"Then do it."

"Not necessary. I'm fine."

"Bull."

"I told you! I'm fine."

"Tell that to Wigum McMahon!"

"Wait, Who?"

"The guy you were 'talking' to last night before the _big_ game!" Alvin put air quotes around the word 'talking'. Simon blushed even more and Jeanette was growing a little bit more concerned. From what Alvin had told her, Simon was having major lapses in his cognition and was going through periods of delusion. Sure signs that his fever was higher than what Simon had indicated to her.

She reached out timidly to the hem of Simon's shirt. He jumped, but with a polite request, Simon relented and pulled up the shirt past the bandage. Jeanette had a girl moment when she was looking more at the muscles that he had rather than the bandage. But it was only a moment. She reached out and pulled off the bandage that Simon had been obviously been changing and then gasped.

It was infected. Very infected.

"This is bad," Jeanette muttered out after a long period of silence.

"Bad? Bad!? Way to understate it! What's wrong with you?" Alvin turned on Simon. Simon winced at Alvin's tone. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"The body is surprisingly resilient and a period of recovery is required to…"

"What are you yapping about now?"

Jeanette took a deep breath and interrupted Simon before he could speak again. "Simon, you must know that this isn't a circumstance in which you can solely rely on your own natural defenses to expedite your recovery. Serious medical treatment is essential."

"Great, now they're both yapping," Alvin muttered angrily to himself, his own emotions not allowing him to even attempt to follow along with the conversation. "And they're off," he commented again to himself, watching as Simon and Jeanette had a polite but heated debate regarding the seriousness of the situation and the steps that needed to be taken.

It took some time, but Jeanette eventually had to give in to Simon. He was more stubborn than she had ever thought. But it was decided. One more day. If there wasn't any improvement after one more day, then Simon would be on his way to the hospital. That was about as much as Alvin was able to pick up after he tuned back into the conversation. He also understood that Jeanette was going to attempt to clean the wound again more thoroughly than what she had probably originally had done.

She worked quickly, both teens wearing blushes. Alvin was around the upstairs, gathering materials that Jeanette had insisted that she needed. And, much to Simon's dismay, he was pretty much shirtless nearing the end of the whole thing and his protests to help in any way were constantly being shot down. Jeanette and Alvin both had agreed that Simon wasn't to be trusted with this whole thing.

"You listen to her. I'm your own brother, and you listen to her."

"She's not trying to hide anything. You are. Don't you get it!? You'll be going to the grave and we'll be going to jail if you don't get better."

"Who's going to jail?" Brittany questioned. Jeanette and Alvin turned their heads and Simon looked up in surprise. The fiery Miller was standing in the doorway, looking at the three of them before resting her eyes on a pretty nasty looking wound on the half-naked Seville that her sister was sitting next to. She clenched her teeth and Brittany was looking pissed. She quickly assessed what she needed to know. The boys had done something illegal and were dragging her sweet, innocent, gullible sister into it.

Theodore had just appeared behind Brittany, looking panicked and out of breath, and Eleanor had just arrived after him. A quick look from Alvin and Theodore knew that they all had to do some back-tracking, and quick. "Only those vile criminals on the streets that are now running in fear because of you, Brittany," Alvin began sweetly.

"Cut the act," Brittany said curtly.

"Okay, okay," Alvin exclaimed. "We were messing around this weekend with one of our dad's tools. I hurt Simon and if Dave finds out, he's going to ground me. And that's completely like jail! I heard Simon say that Jeanette was smart, so I…"

"Try again, Alvin."

Alvin nodded his head, looking to the side. "There was a fight. Simon got hurt and if he doesn't get better, than Dave is going to lock us all up in the basement! It's a prison down there. He's such a horrible father to abuse and misuse…"

"Alvin!" Theodore and Simon exclaimed. The boys needed an excuse, but they didn't need child protective services in the house.

There was silence. Simon, Theodore, and Alvin refused to make eye contact. Brittany and Eleanor were both looking at Jeanette. Jeanette was fiddling with the hem of her skirt. It was an out of the frying pan and into the fire situation. Nothing short of the truth was going to get Brittany to back off.

"Simon was hurt," Jeanette began quietly. "On Friday, I came across him and helped him out. There was a lot of blood. That's what happened to the towel," Jeanette looked up and smiled sheepishly. The girls were incredulous. "I decided to help him of my own free will. But if it gets out, then the boys are going to be in a lot of trouble. And as you can see, Simon isn't recovering so well."

Silence. If it was something you could touch, then it would slice as well as cheddar cheese. "What did you drag her into!?" Brittany shouted. She was scared. Jeanette was nervous and Brittany was scared because of it. They had learned enough from the Vigilante to know that assisting anyone who had participated in something illegal was an act that conflicted with legality itself. Jeanette was in a lot of trouble. Eleanor was concerned to. She looked over at Theodore.

"Might as well tell them." He was ready to just give it up.

"No! They have no business in this," Alvin insisted.

"No business? None!? You made it my business by getting Jeanette into this."

"That was Simon!"

"No!" Jeanette exclaimed. Everyone just stared at her. It was the second time the boys heard an outburst like that from her and the first time her sister's did. She blushed hard and swallowed. "I knew what I was getting into and I was fine with that. I am fine being here right now, doing it again. But if you," Jeanette pointed to Brittany and Eleanor," knew about it, then you're in as much trouble as I am. You will be aiding and abetting as well."

Brittany sighed and calmed down. She walked over to Jeanette and placed a hand on her shoulder. She could feel Jeanette shake. She was on the verge of tears and Brittany could sense that Jeanette was trying hard to keep up a face. Brittany could recognize it, because that's what she had been doing ever since she had her first attack. But the girls were sisters and had each other. They would never face anything alone.

"Then let us. We're sisters. What's your problem is mine."

The boys were looking nervous. Jeanette glanced at them, as they were all begging her to keep quiet. She shook her head. She couldn't hide this anymore. "They're the Vigilante."

**Jeanette, you let the cat out of the bag! Oh man, what is Brittany going to do now? She was alright with helping out the Vigilante to begin with, but what about when he has the face of an annoying, obnoxious red-capped little pest? **

**The next chapter is one I'm really looking forward to. I have plans. Big, big plans. But that means that my chapters for this are now numbered. You can't write a story forever. So sad. But I actually already started writing another one when I got a little frustrated with this one, and it's not so S/J as this one is. Thanks for reading and see you for the next one!**


	10. Chapter 10

**New chapter! It might seem that I really have no life, with how often I update and all that, but there are other things in the works. I'm a little worried that this will be a very long project and extend my deadline that I have. I won't have computer access for the entire summer and I really need to finish this within the next month. But I can't rush the story and it just seems to keep getting bigger with chapters in between the start and the finish. See, this is what you get when you get into something major, and then start a grand fanfiction project.**

**Side note: I'm now up to page fifty on my word processor with this story. Haven't wrote this much since college!**

What's the deal with all the silence? The boys all pretty much face-palmed. The two girls just stared at Jeanette. And Jeanette was occupying herself with the extremely fascinating hem of her skirt. And the entire room was just silence. But you could feel the tension building. The dam was about to burst. It was either Alvin who would go off on Jeanette for just blabbing. Or it was going to be Brittany, spewing love and admiration for her heroes or freaking out. But, drop by drop, the water behind the dam was building and the pressure would eventually be too much.

It was at this point that Simon had decided that he didn't want to face whatever was about to happen without his shirt. So, he pulled it on, keeping his eyes to himself and wincing at the burning pain in his side. But it did feel a little better, he had to admit. He just thought it was a shame he couldn't enjoy the bit of relief because of the three words his friend had spoken.

Time was ticking by. It now seemed to be getting harder and harder to say something. No one was looking at each other, but were just standing or sitting awkwardly, looking at anything and everything around the room but each other. But all were deep in thought.

The three boys were worried. Jeanette was thrown into the mix and had now let her sisters into it as well. They were now criminals. Evil-doers. Set on a path that would ultimately lead to jail with one wrong move. The boys were now responsible for not only their safety, but the girl's safety as well. There was also fear. They didn't know the girls well. Jeanette had proven herself to be somewhat trustworthy, but that seemed to be a glimmer in a line of possible deceit when she was in a situation where there seemed to be an insurmountable odd. Eleanor seemed to be a good girl, but she would probably try to interfere with their plans. She did seem to try and mother everyone that she cared about. And Brittany…Oh, Brittany. Gossip queen. That made Alvin sick to his stomach.

Alvin had to do something. His brothers were in danger. Simon was injured and Theodore…Alvin would rather die than see Theo in jail. Yes, they had all made a pact that night when he and Simon did what they did, that the three of them would be in this together. But Alvin would not stand for Theo being hurt. Not again. Not ever! Simon and Alvin had done too much with their lives to keep Theodore safe and had taken many hits to prevent Theodore from harm. Alvin glanced over at Simon. Simon was looking back at him. They both nodded to each other. They were thinking the same thing.

"Jeanette?" Simon started. Jeanette looked up and at Simon, a little surprised. She was seriously thinking that Brittany would be the one going off and breaking the silence. It only made sense to her, with the way that Brittany had been acting. Simon took a deep breath and swallowed hard. This was more difficult than he thought. "You don't need to hide it with silly stories. I thought you were better than this."

'What?' Jeanette's eyes grew wide.

"Listen, I'm sorry for all this. I really am. But I need to face whatever consequence is coming my way." He directed his eyes up at Brittany and put on a calm face. He needed her to believe this. But this was going to hurt. "You're right. I'm a no good, downright, dirty scoundrel. I tried to rob someone. They had a damn whistle and the Vigilante did this. I took advantage of Jeanette's kindness. Plan and simple."

"Simon!" Jeanette called out.

He gave her a cruel smile. "You really don't get it? You'll believe everything, won't you? What if I told you that I'm a purple space monkey? If I gave you any type of believable evidence, you'd believe that, right?"

She looked hurt. He felt his heart tearing. This was going to be a great loss, and that look in her eyes wasn't making the pain any easier. "But you…"

Simon got up from the bed and pulled something out from behind a stack of books. It was a knife. Alvin and Theodore moved away from him, Alvin looking fearful, and Brittany moved quickly in front of her sisters. "I think I told you we moved a lot, right?" Simon continued in a dark tone. "Dave believes in a lot of second chances. So thanks for patching this up. You really helped. And boys?" Simon directed himself at his brothers, pointing the knife at them and looking a tad bit menacing. "I think it's time you say goodbye to your little friends for good. I don't need to go back to ju-ve."

Tears welled up in her eyes. Jeanette thought frantically. She was right. She knew she was right. She saw the helmet. She touched it. He was so kind. So sorry. This had to be a trick. But Alvin and Theodore were scared. Alvin was actually trying to get in front of Simon, trying to convince Simon that no violence was necessary.

Brittany was taken aback. They were in grave danger. They were alone in a house with a knife-wielding maniac! Her little sister had gotten caught up with a crazy fruit-loop! But it started to make sense to her. He was too polite. Too by-the-books. It was a disguise to move around freely. It also made sense. Simon was the only one she had seen to get the better of Alvin, and the only reason that she had for that was that Alvin was afraid of Simon. And there was no way that he and his brothers would be the Vigilante. They were a selfish lot, at least, Alvin and Simon seemed to be. It was time to leave. Now.

The boys were beginning to wrestle with each other, Alvin trying to get the knife while attempting to calm Simon down, shouting for the girls to run for it. Theodore just stood in the corner with sad eyes, ready to cry. Eleanor wanted to comfort him. He was the object of a bullying older brother. But she couldn't. It would make things obviously worse. So Eleanor and Brittany did all that they could. They took a hold of a crying Jeanette and they ran from the house.

As soon as the door slammed, Alvin and Simon dropped their arms and looked at the floor. "Nice performance," Alvin mumbled, taking the fake knife that Simon had recently confiscated from Alvin and placing it in his pocket. He sat down with a sigh on the bed and Simon turned out his chair and did the same. Theodore didn't move from his spot.

"Why?" Theodore eventually whispered through tears and a sniffle.

The older boys just sighed. "Theo, please understand…" Simon began.

"Why!? They were our friends!"

"We have a good reason." Alvin put in.

"No! Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!?" Theodore sank to the floor and cried.

Simon got up and knelt down next to Theodore, putting an arm around him. "They can go to jail for this. It would have been better if Jeanette just didn't do anything from the first. So we need a reason for this," he indicated his wound. "One that would make them completely innocent."

Alvin followed Simon and put his arm around Theodore as well. "I know you liked Eleanor. I liked Brittany. And four-eyes seemed to get along great with Jeanette. But to keep you and them safe, we had to do that. Don't go near Eleanor anymore. And…be prepared. They could call the cops on Simon."

The only sound that filled the room was Theodore's sobs.

"Brittany, wait!"

"No! We're going to the police and we're going now!"

Brittany marched quickly down the street with Eleanor right next to her. Jeanette was in their wake, finding it hard to keep up with her shorter sisters. Her eyes had dried from the tears, but they were red from the crying. It was still a shock with how the boys had reacted, and it was even more so that Simon would say those things to her. He had been nothing but a gentlemen from the beginning.

Jeanette made another call to attempt Brittany from continue on. "Are you serious?" Brittany spat back. "Simon just threatened all of us. He's crazy! And you want to _not_ go to the cops?" Brittany stopped short and turned on her sister, her eyes as fierce as ever. "You are just so stuck on the idea that they are the Vigilante. But you told us you only have a theory on their identity. Would the Vigilante behave like that?"

"Yes!" Jeanette exclaimed. "They are afraid. I found out the truth when I found Simon injured, dressed as Doc of the Vigilante, and then I just go and expose them. I don't know why they felt that they needed to go that far, but I know that they were afraid."

"Sure. And Simon said all those mean and hurtful things to you because of the act."

"Yes." Those words he said still hurt.

Eleanor went and gave Jeanette a hug, looking Jeanette in the eyes. "Netta, what just happened…Brittany's right. We need to report this. So many things make sense with this. Theodore never liked to oppose his brothers, especially Simon. Simon seems to keep them all away from everyone else. I can't tell you how many times Simon easily pulled Alvin and Theodore away. I've seen it in school. And they say that loners can turn out to be really bad. Aren't you Simon's only friend at school?"

Jeanette was wide-eyed. She opened her mouth but Brittany shushed her. "I know Alvin enough to be able to say that he will stand up to anyone. But Simon gets the better of him all the time. And I heard all about it. Simon is constantly creeping, watching people around him. All the girls are kind of worried about it. There is something not right about him. And now we know."

She was never once described as stubborn. But Jeanette saw what she saw and knew what she knew. Although her heart ached with recent events, there was no way that she could have imagined his pained expression, the jacket and the helmet, and the kind words that he said that night. Sure, she had to admit, his behavior was…out of the ordinary. But it wasn't criminal. There had to be a reason. She just couldn't think of it. "You can drag me there, but I won't be saying anything. And he didn't outright threaten _us_. He threatened his brothers. And we could have the police sent there, but that doesn't mean that Alvin and Theodore will give Simon up. And that's because they are the Vigilante!"

Her sisters stared at her in utter disbelief. How could they convince Jeanette that she was not doing the right thing? And was it even worth attempting to report this to the police? Jeanette was right. Simon didn't threaten them. He was just insulting. And Jeanette had never been this stubborn. "You're making a big mistake," Brittany growled. The girls turned and went home.

Things were quiet the rest of the night. Eleanor was scared for Theodore. He seemed like an innocent victim at the hands of a totalitarian brother. Jeanette was under some sort of spell that Eleanor assumed was puppy love. Alvin seemed to be just barely handling the situation and Brittany was downright livid in a quiet way.

But Jeanette just stayed in her room the rest of the night. She didn't eat dinner. She didn't talk to anyone and ignored all the back-handed comments that her sisters gave her. All she did was cry. If she knew one thing about their visit, it was that Simon had just completely and efficiently cut off all connection between them. And that hurt the most.

She got proof of that the next day. Simon had come to school and her heart sank like lead in a river when she heard him request to sit next to a different person under the pretense of offering academic assistance. There were no glances. There were no comments. There was nothing. Their budding friendship was completely gone as if it never really existed.

The same could be said for Eleanor during the afternoon. Theodore stayed away from her. She tried to strike up conversation frequently with him, but he always moved away and wouldn't even look at her. His eyes were red and blood-shot, and he got a couple of jokes directed at him for possibly partying too hard, and he would just smile weakly at them. That friendship was also gone with the wind.

The only one who looked positively at the prospect of the removal of the Seville's from their lives was Brittany. She had the idea that she would never have to deal with Alvin again, and that made her quite ecstatic and she went to school with a song in her heart, which was a rare occurrence. She did change her tune, however, by lunch. Her day was missing something. It shouldn't have felt like that, though. She was asked out on a date by Darren again, caught up on some very juicy gossip, was complimented several times on her outfit, and actually did well on a test. It was a great day!

A day that was missing something. And she knew what it was. A mischievous smirk, little annoying prank, and an amusing little argument that would usually start up her day. Without knowing it, Alvin had become a part of her life, and it was a part that made her feel a little more complete. So the void was obvious when he would turn to the other girls and flirt with them instead, ignoring her to high heaven. What made that worse was that the other girls were rubbing it in her face that Alvin was no longer interested in her.

Brittany was walking down the hallway, her head held high and her face blank. She had just spotted Jeanette, but she looked so dejected and was obviously not paying attention to the point that she walked into a trashcan, knocking it over. Brittany was about to go over to Jeanette, but was distracted by something out of the corner of her eye. Alvin had just walked out of an intersecting hallway, whistling to himself. Looking back to Jeanette, Brittany saw that she was no longer there. Jeanette had scurried away from the scene of her humiliation.

In one afternoon, Jeanette had gone from feeling and acting a little more confident to being a completely lost cause. That boy had done it to her. There seemed to be a magic that the tall, weird, polite freak had over the people closest to him. Brittany bit her lip, turned her heels and went after Alvin. She caught up with him and yanked him unceremoniously into a doorway.

"What's your problem, Miller?" Alvin snapped, adjusting his shirt that she had knocked out of place. "Whatever it is, you better get over it. I gotta go." He tried to run for it in the coolest way he could obviously managed. Brittany pulled him back.

"We need to talk."

"Whatever it is, I don't need to hear it."

Brittany rolled her eyes and kept him in place. He glowered at her and she just ignored it. "Is it true?"

"What are you going on about?"

"Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Is your brother really a psycho?"

Alvin forced her hands off of him and just leaned in. "Why the hell are you asking me? You saw it yourself. So why didn't you do anything?"

Brittany just blinked. She didn't do anything. Simon was standing there with a knife, confessing his evil ways, and she just let it go. Why was that again? Because Jeanette said that he didn't threaten them. But he did threaten his brothers. So why didn't she do anything? Just because Jeanette told her that the police wouldn't believe her? Is that it? "I…don't know…" Brittany mumbled out at last. "We're confused, I guess."

Alvin huffed. "I don't have time for this." He tried to walk away.

Brittany pulled him back again but the neck of his shirt. He snapped at her and tried to straighten out his clothes again. "Listen. If you need to talk to anyone, or if you need help, I…can do it. You can lean on me. I don't…" well, this was hard. "I don't know what it's like to have a brother like that, but it must be tough on you. I guess you do what you can to keep that jerk away from Theodore, right?"

"Brittany, you don't need…"

"I misjudged you, Alvin. This is the only place you can be yourself and I just thought, all this time that you were just…well, just…I'm sorry, alright? And I mean it. If you need help, I'm here."

Alvin just nodded his head slowly, shrugged off her hand, and walked away. She didn't want to stop him again and make him late for probably meeting with his horrible brother, but she had to watch him walk away. What she didn't realize was that Alvin was biting his lip and trying to keep his wits about him. She didn't say anything to the police yet, but it probably was a just a matter of time before she did.

It felt nice to have someone in his corner that wasn't his brothers, though.

Brittany had snuck out again. She kind of mentioned a date with some guy, but really didn't go into specifics. Ms. Miller was downstairs thinking that all her girls were home, but she was none-the-wiser to Brittany's nocturnal activities. Eleanor and Jeanette were home, however, and were actually in the same room with each other, waiting patiently for Brittany to come home.

Anxiously waiting.

She should have been home an hour ago, at least that was what Brittany implied. Perhaps she was having such a fun time that she forgot the time, or maybe she was taking her own sweet time returning to the house. A final idea was that Brittany had, once again, got into some sort of trouble. That was the option that her sisters were praying wasn't the one that had happened. But with Brittany's record, it was the most likely.

"She could have at least called," Jeanette mumbled. She felt like her hair was greying, although the girls were only juniors in high school. There was so much worry that she could just feel her hair losing its color.

Eleanor nodded in agreement. "Where did she say she was going?"

Jeanette shrugged her shoulders. The information that Brittany had given them was very vague and full of holes. That was completely indicative of a date, but that was just about all the information they could gather.

After another hour, the girls had enough. They decided to take leaf out of Brittany's book and to go look for her. Jeanette scribbled some sort of message for Brittany and left it in the room that had entirely too much pink in it and the two girls made their ways to Eleanor's room. There, they opened the window, put on their jackets, and, one at a time, climbed out on to the old lattice. It was the way that Brittany used to sneak out of the house and had been put there, probably, when the neighborhood was actually nice.

Once reaching the ground, Eleanor and Jeanette gathered themselves together and set off down the street. Jeanette couldn't help but wonder what the sudden change was that now caused them to feel the need to search the streets at night. They were doing dangerous things much more frequently than they ever had before. But something in her kept telling her it would be alright. The Vigilante was now watching over the streets.

'That's probably it. The Vigilante. I wonder if they are out tonight. I hope not. Simon…still doesn't look too good.'

Right as she finished her thought, she found herself staring down the wrong end of a knife.

There was trouble. Brittany heard the screams and knew instantly there was trouble. She ran forward, her heels making it a little difficult. She was just heading home from her date, trying to be quick about it knowing she was late, when she heard the screams. All Brittany could think was that this was the perfect end to a perfect night.

As she rounded a corner cautiously, her hand instinctively reached for her neck. But her whistle wasn't there. She looked down and around, but then it occurred to her. Darren had removed the whistle, telling her it was putting him out of the mood, and she left it with him after she stormed out when he wasn't understanding that no means no. She had no whistle. She glanced up.

Her eyes grew wide with horror. There, being muffled and at knife point, were her two little sisters. A group was trying to rob them, digging through their clothes for anything of value. Brittany had to do something! But she had learned the hard way that she couldn't fight. She needed help and she needed it soon, before things really went bad.

She turned on her heels, running down the street and looking for any sign of life. Bitterly, she cursed the fact that the city really quieted down once the sun had set. All the good people were tucked safely away from the wretched souls that wandered the night. There was no one. She felt like crying and her feet were killing her, but she kept on going.

A dark flash appeared up ahead. She didn't care who it was, she just called out as loudly as she could. Her voice cracked and her desperation was audible in her cry. The figure stopped and looked at her. But her moment of relief was short. It seemed to want to keep running away from her.

"My sisters! They're in trouble!" she cried out again, louder. The figure straightened up, seemed to debate about something, before making his way towards her. Then two other figures appeared behind him, all running as quickly as they could. She smiled at her luck. It was them. She turned and pointed down the street that she came to, shouting to them where her sisters were and they quickly ran with her before surpassing her.

One rounded the corner that she had been too afraid to do and she could instantly hear the fight breaking out. The other two went in different directions. One climbed the wall easily to get on to the roof of the nearest building while the other seemed to go down around the other building. Her legs were heavy as she tried to keep up with them, her heels clacking against the pavement and her lungs begging for breath. She stopped at the corner.

Two of the group were already down. But there seemed to be two others. Her sisters, upon seeing her, ran to Brittany and huddled behind her. And all three watched the fight.

One of the dark heroes made a swing to the nearest one, but the other assailant seemed to be much quicker and held on quickly to his arm. The assailant made a couple of quick jabs to the hero's stomach, causing out a strange, synthesized scream of pain. The hero pulled them both into the shadows.

The third assailant came flying out of the shadows a moment later, landing unconscious on the ground. The last perpetrator stood still, holding his knife in his hand, looking around to see where his attacker would be coming from. He didn't expect to be hit from behind. A few well-placed hits and he was on the ground in pain, before getting up to his feet quickly and running away past the girls. Then the three heroes emerged together.

They looked over at the girls and the girls looked at them. Jeanette could see it. The tallest one was holding his side where he took some hits. She frowned.

The sound of sirens echoed through the street. Someone had heard the noise and called the cops. The boys looked towards the sound and then back behind them. They seemed to be at a loss for where they needed to go. They probably weren't very familiar with this part of the city. Brittany could see it and she wasn't going to have it.

"C'mon!" she ran to them, grabbed one of their hands, and pulled him with her. They were hesitant, but the increasing sirens were making options much more limited. They had to get out of the area, and so they followed the girls.

The girls knew this neighborhood like the back of their hands. They had played all over this place as children and each hole in the fence or small, back alley, were second nature to them. Brittany had no idea where she was leading these boys, but she instinctively drew them with her, her sisters following behind them all. Every once in a while, the boys would tell her that they were alright now, but she was too pumped up. She was too into her own thoughts of leading them away from the police and to the only safe haven she knew. Before she realized it, they were all standing in Eleanor's room.

Cook-y looked around out the window with Doc right behind him, still holding his side. Captain was just standing there, looking nervous. "Any sign?"

Doc and Cook-y both sighed. "Yea."

Captain just nodded and the two boys backed away from the window. The police tried to follow them again. They looked at the girls. Jeanette was visibly out of breath along with Brittany and Eleanor, being the most athletic of the girls, was rubbing Brittany's back. "What happened Brittany?" She asked quietly.

"I should ask you that! What were you doing out so late? If I didn't stop by, you would have been…I am so mad at you two!"

"Us? You were the one who was late! We went out to look for you. Where did you go? Why didn't you call us?"

Brittany looked taken back. She had forgotten her cell phone in her anger. She took it out of her purse and looked at it. There were missed phone calls from her sisters on it. Her face fell. "Oh. Sorry. Darren…no means no. Okay girls? If you get a date, no means no."

Jeanette sank to the floor sadly and Eleanor just shook her head. After a few seconds, the girls moved for a group hug, all apologizing to each other. The boys just gave each other glances while occasionally still checking out the window for the police. Cook-y started and yanked the other two down quickly. The girls looked up at them and then out the window. Cops were driving by the houses, shining their search light. But the police car passed quickly.

"Get off me," a synthesized voice groaned.

"Sorry," another replied. Cook-y moved off of Doc and Doc rubbed his side. Jeanette's eyes grew wide. Doc took a couple of hits. She saw them. To his right side. She walked carefully over to them and all three snapped their heads up.

She sighed. This wasn't going to end very well, she could see it. "You need help."

"No, he doesn't. Thanks for leading us all the way here, but we're leaving." It was Captain.

The three boys stood up and checked out the window again.

"The cops are still out there."

"We can manage."

"We brought you here on purpose. We know it was wrong."

"Stop interfering."

Slowly the boys were each preparing to go down.

"We can help you!"

"We were fine on our own before the Trouble Sisters."

Back to what the day started out as. The three boys ignoring them. Simon ignoring Jeanette. They were so difficult. Did all boys act like this? She didn't understand it. She was already a part of this, and there was no way they were going to convince her she was crazy. They kept doing so much. Saving her and her sisters time and time again. Giving everyone a sense of security. Giving everyone strength to fight back on their own. And these boys, when they needed help, just pushed everyone away.

"I'm not going to stop. I won't. You can trust me! You can trust my sisters. We won't do anything to hurt you. I'm sorry that I told them. But you don't know them like I do. Give them a chance. Like the chance that you gave me. We want to help and you know we've wanted to help from day one. Please...". The boys were leaving. "Simon!"

He had his hand on the window frame and was looking like the first one to go down. He stopped and looked over at Jeanette. Her eyes were glossy. He had given so much pain to her in such a small amount of time, all because he was too weak to say no in the first place. His actions put his brothers in danger and made Theodore miserable. He stood up straight and sighed.

'You're really going along with this?' Alvin's voice crackled in his ear. Simon looked over at Alvin.

"They aren't going to give in," Simon replied in the radio. It was how they communicated with each other during fights, without anyone else hearing them do so.

'Brittany is.'

'Eleanor, too,' Theodore put in sadly.

Simon shook his head. "No, they are just put off from the Seville's right now. Not the Vigilante. It's only a matter of time. Tonight shows that they won't back off. Instead of bringing us to their house, insisting it, actually, they could have just brought us elsewhere."

The three boys shared a look. Brittany and Eleanor were straight up confused and Jeanette was just waiting patiently. 'Man, she probably is the most annoying among them,' Alvin continued the conversation, pointing at Jeanette.

Simon smiled a little. "She's just eager."

'What about…getting them in trouble?' Theodore asked.

Both of the older brothers sighed at the same time. 'They already are. Best we can do for them is to keep our traps shut if we get caught.' Alvin was not happy. 'So, the vote?'

'In,' Theodore replied, looking over at Eleanor who was whispering to Brittany. He really missed her and wasn't ashamed to admit it.

'Out,' Alvin snapped. He thought they were doing just fine on their own.

Simon undid the straps on his helmet and yanked it off his head. "In." He looked over at his brothers with a raised eyebrow.

Jeanette grinned wide as she looked at Simon digging through his pockets for his glasses. He set them on his face and looked at the two girls. Alvin and Theodore followed Simon's lead and took of their own helmets. As soon as his was off, Theodore jumped over to Eleanor and gave her a huge hug. Alvin just rolled his eyes and grumbled angrily.

Eleanor was surprised. She hugged Theodore back and looked up at him and then at the other two brothers. For a moment things didn't make sense. But she knew what she saw. The Vigilante had saved her and Jeanette, again, and they brought them back here. The next thing she knew, Theodore and the other Seville's were in her room.

The shock was too great for Brittany. She stood wide-eyed and just pointed at Simon, her mouth opened, then she pointed at Alvin, and then Theodore, and then back to Alvin. Jeanette merely giggled at her behavior. Brittany couldn't make heads or tails of anything. Finally, she closed her mouth, stood up straight, and then crossed her arms. "I want explanations and I want them _now_," she demanded.

"We were going to tell you, Brittany. Just not in this lifetime," Alvin smirked out, watching Brittany get red in the face. Ah, he missed this. He had to admit that.

"Now, before things get out of hand here," Simon started, putting his palms up in a manner that indicated for everyone to settle down.

"I don't want to hear anything from you, you psycho!" Brittany stamped her foot.

"Brittany! Ms. Miller is sleeping. Do you want her to come up here?" Jeanette chastised. Just as she said that, they heard a voice from downstairs.

"Girls! What are you doing up? It's a school night."

Automatically, the girls replied innocently. "Yes, Ms. Miller."

They all just stood still and looked towards the door. The boys were nervous that they would get caught, and the girls as well. They never had boys in their rooms before. Ms. Miller never allowed it. Brittany composed herself and sat down on Eleanor's bed. She shook her head in disbelief. Theodore had finally let go of Eleanor and went to stand next to his brothers. Eleanor sat next to Brittany. It was obvious she wanted to hear everything as well.

Alvin chuckled. "Who's up for a nice game of checkers?"

"Can it, Seville."

The boys nodded and all six teens stretched out quietly in Eleanor's room. It was already a long night and it was about to get longer. Alvin sarcastically muttered out, "Gather 'round, kiddies, for story time," before the boys began their tale.

**Well, I want to thank a very special someone. It's because of that one person that this chapter even came into existence. I was going to let the girls find out completely at the Seville house, but this seemed so much better, and it is all thanks to you! (You know who you are.) Up next, I don't know! I can't figure out if I should go into a backstory with the boys or just continue forward with the story. I don't know if you guys really want to read a backstory. *shrugs* Let's see how it goes, first**


	11. Chapter 11

**Once again, thanks so much for the reviews! You all are really making me want to try and make this story as good as I can make it. And I think I've figured out how I was to proceed with this. So onward and forward!**

"Okay," Brittany took in a deep breath and looked at their guests. The boys had decided to clam up again and were just sitting around the room, looking at nothing in particular. They were completely and utterly difficult in every situation, and she was pretty sure that it was Simon who controlled everything. But she needed a couple explanations and wasn't going to let them leave without giving them to her. She had lost her cool way too many times already and this whole thing, plus the fear that surrounded her ever since her first attack, was taking its toll on her. "If you all don't start talking now, then I'm seriously going to flag down the next cop."

"See? This is why we don't want to tell you. And that is why I voted 'no'," Alvin directed the last part at his brothers. "It's called being 'blackmailed', you idiots."

"I doubt it. You see…"

"I don't want to hear anything from you, you psycho." Brittany snapped at Simon. He just looked over at her in a bit of confusion before nodding his head as if he understood. She doubted it, though. "I want to know a few things, and since you all aren't going to tell me, I'm just going to ask. First things first, what was up with that visit to your house?"

The boys remained quiet. Theodore bit his lip and looked over at his brothers. He wanted to say something and just spill everything to the girls. In his own mind, he was convinced that the girls may back off once they knew everything. At least, that was how Simon approached situations of the unknown and then he would stop once he found everything out. But Theodore had to hold in his voice.

Alvin and Simon had a mini-conversation with each other without saying anything. It was critical that they kept a few things secret. The girls didn't need to know everything and they were more comfortable with answering questions, since they could control what information they leaked about themselves. Jeanette, figuring out that the boys had some sort of link with each other, just sat quietly. She decided to wait until things calmed down between Brittany and Simon before trying to check Simon's injury again.

"I'm waiting." Brittany rolled her eyes and looked over at Eleanor. Eleanor merely nodded back.

"Very well then," Simon started up again.

"Not from _you_."

"It started because of me. Why shouldn't I…"

"I don't want to hear it. In fact, why don't you stop everything you're doing? Stop breathing, while you're at it."

Simon sighed and Alvin finally got the message. Brittany really didn't trust Simon and any little action that he had with Simon was just cementing some sort of idea that Brittany had. Alvin had to bear this responsibility, and he wasn't happy about it. He just wanted to go home. "Simon and I had an argument. Doing this can be pretty stressful, and we argue at lot because of it. And then we start getting stupid. Me and Theodore went our own way last Friday night and Simon went off by himself. Someone always gets hurt when we split up. Well, he got into a scuffle and was hurt pretty bad.

"Apparently, he landed in your backyard and Jeanette patched him up, just like she told you. Then she got ahold of us. We came by and took him home. But, he didn't heal too well. You kind of saw it. I brought Jeanette over to patch him up again and you two just had to come along."

"Why Jeanette?"

"Jeanette knew who we were, even before Simon got the stick. I didn't have to lie about how it happened. And we were hoping that she would fix him up enough to avoid bringing him to the doctor. A knife wound that is half fixed up is kind of hard to cover up. Well, then she blabbed. You know what we're doing is illegal. And you girls are in it too. You wouldn't be in it without us. We wanted to keep you from getting into any trouble. If you went to the cops, which we were surprised you didn't, by the way…"

Brittany just nodded at that point, looking down at the floor. She still couldn't believe that she let her little, shyer sister convince her not to go to do that. "Well, you could tell them that you were forced and went along out of fear. There would have been an out for you. So much for not taking it." Alvin ended it by pinching the bridge of his nose.

"But the knife…"

"Was fake. It was a rubber knife used in movies and all that. I was only able to hurt one person with it and that was just giving them a bruise. By accident."

Theodore shook his head. "I still don't buy that."

"I told you, I didn't mean that!"

"You _threw_ it at me!"

"Theodore, it was an accident. I meant to hit Simon with it." Simon glared at Alvin. Alvin shrugged his shoulders. "You should learn to respect me more."

"I think you have enough respect for yourself to cover for my slack." Simon was a little weary. And bringing up old arguments from the past wasn't going to help them out. Alvin just replied by calling Simon a name before the three boys fell silent.

Once again, she rolled her eyes. They really were difficult and seemed to argue all the time. "So what you're telling me is that your brother isn't crazy?"

"Oh, he's crazy, alright. Does homework during school, prefers to do science experiments at home during our free time, reads a lot, obeys Dave pretty well, actually _likes_ responsibility. And I think he's gay."

"Alvin!" Theodore and Simon both exclaimed. Jeanette could instantly feel her heart sink a little, looking at Simon. She didn't think Alvin was right, but anything that could indicate that Simon was out of her reach made her feel a little lost.

"What?" Alvin continued on in the conversation. "You never flirt or even talk about girls, Four-eyes!"

It was Simon's turn to pinch his nose. "I have other things to worry about. I don't even know how you have the time yourself."

Alvin seemed satisfied with Simon's answer. "I have a better understanding of priorities than you do." He looked at Brittany again. "So yea, he's pretty damn crazy."

"Oh brother…."

"Stop it! Geez, are you guys like this all the time?" Eleanor finally had to put in. They were seriously going nowhere with this. She just wished she could talk with Theodore about it. He seemed to be the most straightforward out of the three.

Alvin and Simon both gave Eleanor blank looks before admitting that they did fight a lot. The girls just sighed, including Jeanette. But she was still uneasy. He didn't say that he wasn't inclined towards men.

"Fine. Just fine. I will go on the _faith_ that he's just creepy."

Everyone went silent and looked at Brittany. Simon seemed a little offended at her comment, but didn't want to go into it. It was bad enough that Alvin kept trying to bicker with him, let alone that they eldest Miller was trying to find anything to make Simon into something he was not. He just let it drop and subtly placed his hand on his wound. It felt wet. He sighed and prayed that Jeanette had forgotten about it.

"Next, why are you guys even doing this?"

"We don't feel comfortable enough to go into that." Alvin deadpanned immediately. Brittany glared at him and he stared right back, his face set in determination. It was only after a few minutes of quiet before Brittany just had to give in and conclude that it was the same old things. Guys fighting crime because they couldn't stand the sight of crime and people being hurt. It still wasn't good enough, and she sure as anything wasn't going to just drop it forever.

"Whatever," she decided on. She glanced around the room for a little bit, her eyes finally setting on one of the helmets. She picked it up and examined it a bit. "What is all this stuff in it?" she asked. It was a big helmet and there were a lot of things in it.

"Crime fighting stuff."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

Jeanette sighed and sat on the bed on the other side of Brittany. Eleanor was looking into the helmet as well. The boys were just too caught up to even care. The girls were already involved. But they weren't going to help the sisters figure out what Simon had come up with. And Simon was too involved in trying to keep his bleeding under control without letting anyone else know it. "This is a Bluetooth. I guess if they get separated, this is how they can contact each other. This is that thing that will change their voices to sound the same. And that," Jeanette pointed to another device, "Is a two-way radio that Simon came up with. We've seen them have conversations with each other without actually talking. They are talking. Just with this."

Brittany nodded and Eleanor was just amazed. Jeanette continued to go over a few other alterations that were made inside of it. The boys decided to take this opportunity to move closer together. They were whispering to each other about what they were going to do next. Eleanor had grown tired of the helmet, eventually, and pulled over a stuffed animal that was at the head of her bed. She settled on looking curiously at the boys. Theodore was just quiet. Simon and Alvin were doing all of the talking over there.

Jeanette looked up to see Eleanor watching their guests and she turned her head also. Simon and Alvin were really into whatever they were talking about and had seemed to forget where they even were. It almost as if they were about to come to blows with each other. Alvin's fists were clenched and his jaw was set. Simon was looking with stern eyes and his hand…

"Simon! I'm so sorry. I almost forgot that you were hit!"

Simon turned his head sharply towards Jeanette and lowered his hand from his side. He had hoped that she had forgotten, but apparently she didn't. Alvin could see Simon lower his arm and he scowled. Something was up again and Simon didn't say a word. "It opened again, didn't it?" he asked darkly.

"I keep telling you, I'm fine!" Simon tried to speak with a level voice, but it wasn't getting through.

Jeanette rose from the bed and went to kneel beside Simon. The shy boy tried to shuffle away, insisting that she didn't need to provide any type of assistance since it wasn't that big of a deal. She gave him a once over quickly. His face was flushed. All their faces were red from the running, but they had enough time to calm down. His hasn't changed. He had bags under his eyes. He still wasn't sleeping, it looked like. Quickly, she reached her hand out and touched his face.

"You still have a fever!"

"What!?" Alvin flared up.

"Shhh!" Eleanor put her finger to her lips before scooting over to the group. Theodore made room for his friend and looked at Simon. Alvin placed his hand roughly on Simon's shoulder and got very close to his brother's face.

"You went out tonight with a fever?" he spoke through clenched teeth. "I swear it, if that doesn't kill you off, I will."

Simon pushed Alvin away and looked him dead in the eye. "I wasn't going to let you go out on your own." He then turned his stone-cold gaze to his friend. "And it's only a slight fever. I am recovering, thank you very much."

That started the quietest ruckus that was ever known to man. Alvin and Simon argued about the severity of the situation. Jeanette was insisting that she take a look at it, clearly convinced that the only thing she could do was provide medical support. Eleanor and Theodore both tried to persuade Simon to give in. And if Jeanette thought Simon was stubborn before, she had no idea how stubborn he could actually get. Eventually, Alvin and Theodore had to pin their brother down while the two girls checked the wound which seemed to get worse during the struggle. Simon had to point the last bit out.

"It wouldn't be worse if you just cooperated!" Alvin grunted as he fought against Simon's arms.

"I…I think I'm going to be sick," Eleanor said, looking at what she didn't want to look at.

To Jeanette, it was a sign of relief. It was still infected, but it was getting better. But hearting Eleanor's comment made Jeanette wonder to herself. She might actually have a future in medicine. This didn't really bother her too much. Well, other than forcing someone to cooperate, that is. Turning her attention back to what she was doing, she had to sigh. It was bleeding again and probably could use a good cleaning. Again.

"I'm going to be sick, too." Brittany had joined in. "Seriously. You must be crazy not to have gone to a hospital!"

"Not an option."

"Why not?"

"We'll go to jail." Alvin had a smirk on, but she could tell he wasn't kidding.

"Hold him down. I'm going to get what I need," Jeanette muttered, leaving Simon's side. Soon after, she came back and Simon finally had to give in and cooperate. This left the teens with time to talk. Brittany and Eleanor wanted to hear stories and had a few innocent questions. Alvin and even Theodore talked back to them. But things had to come to a head.

Brittany was back on Eleanor's bed and was biting her lip. Jeanette was putting the finishing touches on the injury and everyone was starting to get ready to go. "Okay, we want to fight." Brittany put in.

All three boys looked at her. And then they started to laugh. It was a repeat of the first time the girls ever confirmed that the Vigilante was three guys. The boys really and honestly didn't think that the girls could do anything and that was driving Brittany mad.

She had to think back. Ever since she was put in a position in which she was forced to feel helpless, that was how she was acting. She was Brittany Miller. She bowed to no man. She feared nothing. She was a diva and a star, one who was strong and had an even stronger will. But she had bowed to several men now. She feared the streets for the first time in her life. She acted like a coward in danger, relying on others to save her. It was time for a change and she was done with being a damsel.

Brittany had decided to see if she could get the boys to just let her in. She and her sisters were valuable. Brittany had a solid information network and a feisty attitude. Eleanor was a fast runner and excellent athlete. And Jeanette had brains. She hated that they thought so little of them. These three boys who have been nothing but trouble recently thought that she and her sisters weren't good for anything but nurses and extra trouble.

"I mean it." They had stopped laughing but then started up again when she made her next comment. All three stood to leave, Simon giving Jeanette an awkward thanks and Theodore smiling at Eleanor and telling her he would see her tomorrow.

"Just do us a favor, okay?" Alvin said while the boys started to file out the window. "Just stop causing so much trouble. You're better off ruling that school, not the streets." With that, all three boys were back out into the night, leaving Brittany as angry as she originally was. But then, she had to smile.

Her sisters were a little confused. Brittany was smiling after being told off like that? Brittany would never do that. But there she was, little smirk on her face, looking at the window the boys had just left through. "Um, Brittany?" Jeanette started.

"Girls, what are we?"

Eleanor and Jeanette shared a confused glance with each other before looking back at their sister. "Girls?" Jeanette guessed.

"Tools?" Eleanor added in bitterly. Brittany wasn't the only one offended by the boys.

"No. We're strong. We're strong, capable, and determined. Look what we were able to do!" Brittany pointed out the window. "We figured out their little game and we gave people a way to defend themselves. We can do so much more than that! It's time that we end our helplessness. There is no way that I'm going to let those jerks keep on saving_ me_. No, they will get our help whether they want it or not."

"But Brittany!"

"And they are going to _help_ us help them," Brittany grinned at her sisters, pulling out the two-way communication piece from under Eleanor's bed. Eleanor and Jeanette stared wide-eyed at Brittany as Brittany turned it over in her hand with a triumphant smile. "Jeanette, I need you to tap into this. You're just as smart as Simon. No, that's not right. You're smarter. And Eleanor, look for a place that can help us learn to fight. Even some sort of self-defense school is good. I'm going to make sure that no one knows who we are. We'll take a leaf right out of their stupid book and wear some costumes. We are not just going to sit back and let them do all the fighting. It's time we take back everything that those streets have ever taken from us!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Once again, great reviews and I appreciate it! To be honest, I really think that this story has come in from the left field. But hey, it's a whole new dimension, right? So now, it's time to fill in the holes a little bit more and move on with the plot. Up next, a little TxE. And listening to the Born to Rock album. So…Onwards!**

It had been two weeks exactly since the girls had their late night visitors. Simon had steadily gotten better and was now looking almost like his normal self and talking to Jeanette again during school. Alvin continued his friend/hate relationship with Brittany, much to her like and dismay. She was beginning to regret missing him. And Eleanor and Theodore were still maintaining their friendship. The girls didn't bring up anything regarding their want to fight, and the boys didn't either. They went on pretending that nothing had happened in the least.

But the girls were hard at work. Jeanette was spending all of her free time trying to solve the puzzle that was the communication device. It was complicated, to say the least. Brittany had explained her plan pretty thoroughly, and that meant that the girls had to be able to receive the transmissions so that they all could hear how the boys carried out their fights. It would almost be like being along for the ride. Yet, connecting that little device to an old stereo, making it only receiving, and adjusting it to the right frequency was going to be very hard. Jeanette knew that Simon was great with chemistry, but she had no idea how far his genius stretched until she had to tamper with one of his own inventions.

Brittany was constantly making notes about costumes. At first, her two sisters thought that Brittany just wanted to appear to the public in a certain way, but they were far from the truth. The fashion diva and gossip queen had actually paid attention to the boys and figured out that everything that they wore had a purpose. Gloves to hide fingerprints. Leather jackets to help guard from scraps and using the pockets in them to hold things that they needed. Helmets that were highly equip to assist them in their mission as well as hide their own identities. These outfits were the pinnacle of design, and it took the need to create them to get Brittany to finally value them for what they were.

Eleanor, by far, felt she had the easiest job. All she had to do was find some place that could teach them to fight for a good price. She found one within two days and the girls had been steadily attending classes there whenever they could get away from social obligations and their part-time jobs. The girls even tried to practice with each other at home when Ms. Miller wasn't there. And Eleanor tried to pay extra attention to the classes so she could instruct her sisters a little better during their practice. Yet, even though Jeanette was bound and determined to help her not-so-secret-crush and Brittany was refusing to even be defenseless anymore, Eleanor had no real reason to go through with the plan.

Yes, she was saved by the boys a few times. She had even wanted to fight once before and had offered it to help the boys. But, by now, she felt that there was nothing else involved. Seeing the injury that Simon had received really turned her stomach and the danger that those boys faced nearly every night was something that Eleanor had to really consider. Her sisters and she were going out looking for trouble by doing this. It made no sense.

She was walking down the hall to the cafeteria one day, thinking to herself about what she was going to do with her sisters later that night and trying to think of a reason to even continue with this. That train of thought also led her to try and think of how she could try and get her sisters' out of the idea, as well. But Brittany was stubborn and Jeanette was acting a little differently. It was going to be very difficult, to say the least.

"Eleanor," a familiar voice called her. She looked up to see Theodore smiling at her while standing next to the cafeteria door. His eyes sparkled a little bit as she smiled back at him and waved. After a quick greeting and Theodore preventing her from entering the cafeteria, he began to speak. "I was wondering if you have a minute or two."

"Of course, Theodore. We can talk inside."

Theodore shook his head, glancing into the cafeteria. "My brothers are in there. I was thinking somewhere a little more private."

Eleanor nodded her head and made an 'Oh' shape with her mouth. The two went back the way she came, Eleanor believing that Theodore didn't want to walk past the doors with her. It was a little odd, but he did mention his brothers. Maybe they didn't know that Theodore was going to speak to her? Whatever it was, Theodore was leading her far away from everyone and out the back door where there was a small space that the students could use during lunch to get outside. They walked to the far side of the quad, as they called it, and sat on some steps that lead to a janitor's entrance.

The two sat in silence for a moment. Eleanor glanced around. It was fairly warm outside, but a cool wind was beginning to blow. A storm was coming in for later that day and it felt like it. She glanced at her friend. His eyes had lost their twinkle and he didn't have a smile on his face. He was just staring intently at the ground in front of them, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped. It was strange. Could Theodore even look like this?

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, not looking up. "My brothers wouldn't like this. So I had to bring you here." So she was right. He was trying to keep this a secret and it seemed like it was hard for Theodore. He was trying to break something that held him down and it was hard. He sighed. She simply put her hand on his forearm. He tensed. She could feel his muscles constrict below her hand. He slowly turned at looked at her.

"Think about what you girls are doing," he shot out quickly. "We're not stupid, Eleanor. You girls are getting involved in something that you really don't want to handle. I'm not saying that you aren't strong or that you can't do it. But you don't want to. There are other ways."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Theodore." Eleanor didn't really want to lie to him, but she was really concerned about the way that he was looking. He lost all of his good humor very quickly.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to press his case. "I know how it feels, okay? Listen, we haven't told anyone this, but I think that I need to do something drastic, and I trust you. When I was little," he fumbled for words. She leaned in a little. He was beginning to mutter instead of speak. "When I was little, I was kidnapped by a pedophile. Dave tried what he could do. He called the police, made phones calls, called in favors from important people…he tried. But nothing happened. I was kept by that…man…for two weeks. You have no idea how much pain I endured. How scared I was. I mean, I was always afraid of the dark during that time, but this…I can't say how it felt."

He blinked and looked up into the sky. Eleanor's heart was beating fast and her mouth was open. She felt so sorry for him. "Do you know what it feels like to know you're going to die? There is no hope for tomorrow. Just a wish that it would end today. I felt like that, Eleanor. I was told that the police were doing what they could, but apparently, it wasn't enough. Alvin and Simon found me. You should have seen what they…what they did to…that man, when they found me. If something in me broke that day, something broke in Alvin and Simon, too."

She couldn't say anything. There were absolutely no words. He spoke like a robot, only changing his tone of voice every so often when the mention of his captor, but at no other times did he change. "The point is, I know what you girls might be feeling right now. Scared every day of your life that you'll come across another evil person. My brothers decided not long after I came home to stop these types of guys. That's when it started. They kept it from me. I was in therapy, _talking_ about what had happened. I only found out when I came home from therapy one night. Dave just dropped me off at home and I came into the kitchen to find Simon digging a bullet out of Alvin."

Still, there were no words that she could mutter. It was as if she was frozen. Here, her best friend was opening up to her about everything that the Seville boys had gone through. The reason that they fought every night and what they were trying to do. She thought he was done, but she was wrong. "We made a pact that night. I didn't want my brothers to continue, but you've seen how they can get. I can't oppose them. So we made a promise to each other. We will fight together, protect the weak, punish the evil, and never leave each other behind. Our promise came with a condition. Alvin had to devote his time. He used to date lots of girls," Theodore gave a wry smile, "but now he can't. Simon used to really focus on his studies, but only has time for them during school. To tag along, I have to listen to my brothers, always.

"We're not happy, Eleanor. We're only in high school. We should be out with friends, pretending that everything is happy and kind, like when we were younger. But no. We're out on the streets, every night, dodging bullets and avoiding knives, trying to keep people from our fate. And that's what I'm doing now. Don't do this." Theodore looked directly into Eleanor's eyes. His green eyes seemed dead and she was fairly sure that all the brothers would look like this. "Do what you have been doing, but don't take up the banner that my brothers and I are under. It's too late for us. But not for you. Don't do this."

She heard him. She heard it all. It was a plea, from one friend to another, to stop a repeat. He could see his own family in hers, just as she could see hers in his. It was very natural for them all to follow each other. But the three boys were in pain. Every time they saved someone was probably the only time they felt happy with themselves, but the feeling was very short lived. They were addicted to that only happiness that they had. And that was why the boys stayed close to each other. Any type of threat was dealt with, quickly and efficiently. Yet, their little fortress was being sieged by the girls. And every time the boys tried to push the girls away, the girls kept on pushing back.

Eleanor was at a crossroads. Would she listen to Theodore's plea? Or would she use it to push forward to the unknown? Seeing him there, with his eyes devoid of light and missing his smile and happy-go-lucky attitude, made her think. Brittany tried to hide it. But she was scared of the streets. And Jeanette just hated everything rotten with the world. They would fight. Eleanor took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had recently listened to a few of her friend's old songs and actually found some pictures! They were very happy, especially Theodore. She could tell.

"I'm sorry, Theodore. I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do. But…"

He let out a very heavy sigh. "It was worth a shot. And you can always change your mind." He smiled at her, his light returning to his face. But she now knew that it was fake. Probably the only one to not hide is discontent was Simon, and that was only his natural appearance. And the three really did hide their pain from the world whenever the world wanted to speak to them. She nodded back to him.

The two got up to move and go back inside. But before they walked back into the school together, Eleanor reached out and touched Theodore's arm. He stopped and turned to look at her and she could see in his face a fear. "You can trust me, Theodore. I just wanted to tell you that."

He looked relieved and once again gave her a grateful smile. "I'm glad. I was actually worried you wanted to give me a hug. No offense, but when doctors or therapists hear about what happened to me, they always want to give me a hug. It's more for them than for me, and I hate that."

Eleanor gave a weak smile and shook her head at the ground. "If I want to give you a hug, it's because I want to show you how happy I am that you're my friend. And right now, I would rather do something else."

Theodore cocked his head to the side in confusion, just looking at Eleanor. Eleanor went wide-eyed, not believing that what she said actually came out of her mouth. She bit her lip. Did she really just say that? Yea, she did. And she wasn't sure that she could even act on it anymore. Theodore was…no. Theodore hated when people forced him to relive his trauma. This was completely different from it. She didn't want to force him or to console herself. She wanted to act out on what she had been feeling, and now seemed like the closest moment to perfect that she could get.

Quickly, Eleanor leaned in and gave Theodore a quick peck on the cheek, then pulled back, blushing furiously and staring at the ground. She couldn't see the extreme confusion on Theodore's face or the blush that slowly came across his own cheeks. "Don't get me wrong. I guess I've been wanting to do that for a while now." She glanced up to find his confused look slowly fading and replaced by a smile that she could bet was heartfelt. She smiled back.

"Thank you, Eleanor."


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow, dark and depressing. And there is more in store for the girls to find out. That's part of the reason why I haven't updated in a while. I needed to find out the **_**exact**_** reason that Alvin fought, and I got it now. Also, I got stuck on something really stupid for this story, but, thanks to google images, I was able to figure it out. It was stupid, but really important at the same time. Anyways, onwards!**

Christmas break was right around the corner. The city was lit up, at least halfway, with Christmas lights and some other festive decorations. The days were becoming shorter and a feeling was in the air of the joyous season. At least, in any normal city, it would have been. The crime in the streets, although pushed back some, was still there and the city was still struggling to get out of its pit of upper lower class economics.

There was some brightness in the lives of the girls, though. Their efforts hadn't been in vain. Eleanor had a fire in her ever since Theodore had allowed her into his world. She didn't tell her sisters, but they could see that they were all on the exact same page in their plan. And Eleanor made sure to put extra strength and know-how into her own lessons for her sisters. She was on youtube, looking up more defensive moves, she practiced on pillows, and started a strict exercise regimen for herself and her sisters. They had to be in shape.

Whenever the blonde started to feel a little weak, though, which did happen when she didn't make as much progress in as short a time that she wanted, all she had to do was listen to one of the old songs from the Chipmunks or look at a picture of the guy who she was beginning to see a little differently. There was no way that she could have ignored the way that he looked that day in the quad, and there was no way that she could ignore how different it was from when he was a kid. Her sisters and she had been lucky that nothing had happened to them that was that scarring. But it happened to Theodore. And it happened every day to some other unfortunate soul. Every day, if the victim was lucky enough to live through their ordeal, they were left broken and dead with only pieces to remind them of the life they once had.

Those were her thoughts as she sat on her bed, staring at a very recent picture of herself and Theodore that their teacher had taken of them. Both were covered in flour and Theodore had a huge amount of dough hanging off of his nose, put there by herself. They had been having fun making their class assignment when Theodore had apparently thought it would be amusing to give Eleanor a flour hand print on her cheek. He didn't hit her, just placed his hand there to leave the mark. That one moment started a small flour fight. They didn't get into a lot of trouble for it, since their teacher was pretty easy-going and really enjoyed those two students. She had to take a picture of the two afterwards and before they cleaned up. It was a few days later that she gave both of the two trouble chefs a copy.

His eyes were really bright in that picture and his smile just seemed to consume his face. Hers were equal in every respect. But now, sitting on her bed, thinking back on the difficulties that Jeanette was having with her coordination, Eleanor was just focusing on whether she could believe in his smile or if it was as fake as the ones he usually gave to everyone else. She still didn't know him well enough to tell. How many others, in this very neighborhood, had to smile the way that he had to? She set her jaw in determination.

"Eleanor?" Jeanette's quiet voice reached Eleanor's ears. Eleanor moved her brown doe-eyes up to her door to see Jeanette peaking in at her. "Is this how you do it?" Jeanette moved into the room a little, checking to see if she was close to anything, before taking a deep breath, steadying herself, and attempting a high kick. She faltered with her footing and turning on the ball of her foot before almost completely losing balance and falling to the floor.

Eleanor sighed, placed her picture on her nightstand, and walked to her sister. "No, Jeanette. Like this," Eleanor demonstrated again. Jeanette watched carefully, listening to Eleanor intently as Eleanor explained how the whole body was supposed to move in a fluid motion. Once Eleanor had done so, she moved aside for Jeanette. Jeanette steadied herself again and gave it her best shot.

"Better," Eleanor smiled as Jeanette fumbled with her footing again. But Jeanette just heaved a sigh and shook her head in disappointment. "Don't worry, Netta. You'll get it. It just takes a little practice."

"I know," she smiled at Eleanor. "I just feel a little behind. Brittany can do that move easily now, and she can even do it in heels!"

Eleanor chuckled in good humor. "Brittany can do nearly everything in heels. Even I couldn't do that in heels, not that I would want to." Jeanette had to chuckle with her sister. They remembered the day that Brittany had decided to try with her three inch heels on. Both her younger sisters thought that Brittany would fall flat on her face, but were both silenced once they could see that not only could Brittany do those moves in those shoes, but she could do them better than when she was wearing sneakers or flats!

"Okay girls!" Brittany bustled down the hall after walking out of her room. She made a straight march into Jeanette's room and out of sight. There was quiet for a moment, before they could hear Brittany huff and then walk into Eleanor's room. In her arms, she had a variety of clothing and other articles. "Time to dress up a bit," she put on her devious smile. She lowered her head and shot a glance at her two sisters with her ice blue eyes from under her long eye lashes. "We're going hunting."

"Hunting!?" Jeanette perked up. She looked down and around at the floor and then at Eleanor. Her heart began to beat a little bit faster and she could feel her palms getting sweaty. "We aren't ready for that, yet."

The girls had been listening to the boys on their stolen radio for the past three weeks after Jeanette had finally put it all together. They had discovered that the boys called their work 'hunting' and had spent a lot of time deciphering between voices. At first, it was a little easier, since there were only two voices that they could hear, Simon's and Alvin's. After a few days though, they began to pick up on Theodore. When they could hear the third voice, Brittany had to laugh. Simon had a few pointed grumbles about Theodore complaining about the new radio, saying that he couldn't understand how Theodore lost his to begin with. They had no idea that Brittany had stolen it.

"We _are_ ready," Brittany stated sternly. "We've been getting better with our fighting. Even the instructor says so. And we have everything that we need to get started." Brittany plopped all the things in her arms on Eleanor's bed and began to dig through them. "And," she continued, "we don't have school for two weeks. I'm only working two mornings this week, Eleanor has three afternoons, and you got the week off, Jeanette."

Eleanor looked at her sisters. She wasn't as sure as Brittany if they were ready. She was sure that she could handle an encounter, and that Brittany could definitely handle it, but Jeanette was a bit of another story. It wasn't as if Jeanette was weak. She just wasn't as physically fit or active as the other two sisters. Eleanor glanced at her bed side table at the picture of Theodore. When he was little, he was actually pretty chubby and probably not that in shape. Maybe his brothers made him promise to listen to them because of it. The girls, if they went out hunting, would have to pay extra attention to their sister. Could they pay attention to both the fight and Jeanette?

Brittany caught on to Eleanor's uncertainty, although she didn't know why she was uncertain to begin with. "You don't get anywhere without a little risk and initiative. Why are we doing this? Because we don't want to be victims, and we don't anyone else to be victims, and because we are going to show those jerks just who can and can not fight."

"That last one seems a little…" Jeanette began slowly. Brittany waved her off.

"Put these on," Brittany ordered, throwing one article of clothing after another to the rightful owner. "And meet me downstairs in ten minutes!" In a whirl of lingering perfume, Brittany turned on her heel and left the room to go to her own.

About an hour later, Jeanette couldn't stop trying to blink the tears away. They just hurt so much and she was in a lot of discomfort. Brittany just marched ahead of her down an alley while Eleanor stayed next to her, trying to give comforting and encouraging words. But words weren't going to help her at the moment. She blinked and tried to keep her hands away from her eyes.

Things would have been a lot better if Brittany would have just let Jeanette wear her glasses. But the aviators that Brittany had bought for the outfits made it nearly impossible for Jeanette to have her glasses, and thus, she was stuck with her contacts. They hurt her eyes something awful, but at least they were there to keep her from focusing on how cold she was.

Brittany had her sisters wearing black leggings and black converse sneakers. Short, black skirts were over the leggings, but Eleanor and Jeanette were convinced that the skirt was just so people knew that they were girls. Each girl wore black gloves and black, form-fitting jackets with a different colored, thin belt around their waists. Jeanette had a light blue belt, Eleanor had a light green one, and, of course, Brittany had a pink one. The only other similarity that the girls had was that they all kept their hair down, to try and obscure their faces. The biggest difference, though, was that Brittany was wearing a pair of knee high, four inch heeled boots.

They were all on the patrol. They weaved themselves through alleys, under fences, and around buildings looking for any type of danger or criminal act. Their hearts were pounding and adrenaline raced through their veins. This was what they had waited and planned for. And it was this night that would prove exactly what they were made of. And that was a harder material than steel or platinum.

Brittany was on fire for the way that the boys seemed to treat them. They had no faith, what-so-ever, that the girls could fight and actually be useful. It was probably the first time in her life that she was upset to discover that chivalry wasn't dead, since those three were so set in their ways that girls shouldn't be out at night, doing what the boys were doing. But she still didn't want to always wait for a white knight to come to her rescue. The world was going downhill, and only the people that lived there could stop the descent by doing exactly what they could. If that meant she would become a crime-fighter to stop others from coming out of the back alleys like nightmares, then so be it.

A whistle sounded off a little ways into the distance. Brittany glanced over her shoulder, looked at her sisters, and nodded. The girls instantly took off to where the sound seemed to come from. It was the moment of truth, and each step that they took brought them closer and closer to their final test. Brittany narrowed her eyes behind her large sunglasses, set her jaw, and sped up a little faster, only signaling to her sisters where they needed to go once they were in view of the attack. It was time and there was no going back.

Page Break

Hours had elapsed from the time that the girls responded to their first whistle to the present, where they stood, standing above two unconscious males, breathing heavily. Their fights had went over very well, and this was their third that they had faced and won. This seemed to be a little easier than they originally thought it would be, or were told it would be.

But they weren't completely okay. Brittany shifted her feet a bit, her shoes obviously not really meant for the actions that they were doing and were starting to hurt her. Eleanor seemed to be getting a little tired, and Jeanette knew exactly why. She rubbed her wrist sadly, looking at the two figures on the ground. Eleanor had to rescue her during this last attack towards the end. Jeanette had tried to give the man a quick hit to the nose, but he was able to read her and latched on to her arm.

She just felt so useless! Yes, she could fight. And yes, she was strong. She had proven herself, just as her sisters had, that she could handle the fights. But she couldn't handle them as well. Perhaps only certain people were meant to do certain things, based off of their natural talents and weaknesses. Eleanor was fantastic at this, able to spin, dodge, run, and move in ways that the criminals weren't able to keep up with. Jeanette had even managed to see Eleanor do a back flip at one point that evening. Brittany had fire and the ability to use it to her advantage, strengthening her hits and thinking quickly enough to respond accordingly. She really did have a very sharp mind. But for herself, Jeanette had to sigh. She was tripping constantly, lagging behind in the running, and getting into more trouble. Her punches weren't strong enough and she was too busy trying to decide how to attack that she was taking way too long to actually attack.

A sound shook Jeanette out of her thoughts. At first, she didn't think much of it. But once her sisters took a hold of her and rushed her down the alley, she understood. Once again, she was just thinking way too much to react the way that she needed to. Those were police sirens and they were now vigilantes. They had to run from the police.

The three rounded a corner and jogged a few blocks away before stopping to catch their breath. Jeanette took this time to look at her sisters. They both were tired, but they had the biggest smiles on their faces. They were proud of the work that they did. Soon enough, they were congratulating each other for another great attack against the vermin of the street. They soon directed their shielded eyes at Jeanette. The girl shrugged her shoulders, looked down, and tucked her hands under her arms, holding herself. "I'm sorry," she whispered out.

"What?" Brittany exclaimed, looking at her sister. "What are you sorry for? We did great!"

Jeanette shook her head and then looked over at Eleanor. Eleanor nodded her head and put her arm around her sister. "Jeanette, we're all going to make mistakes. You don't have to be sorry." Before Jeanette could respond, they could hear another whistle go off in the distance and away from the sirens. "Don't they ever stop!?"

"This is a vile city, girls. Let's go," Brittany began to jog again. Yes, her feet were killing her, but Brittany had caught the same fever that the boys seemed to be afflicted with. One night and she was hooked, and would probably work herself to the bone, just like the boys, as long as she felt whatever it was that she was feeling now. Exuberance, perhaps?

As the girls got closer to where the sound might have been coming from, they crouched down, lifted up the side of a metal fence, and decided to move around to the back. It was in another alley and the front was exactly where the assailants probably thought that the responders were going to come from. Jeanette had to sigh. This was why Brittany was good at this.

Jeanette moved in between her sisters, Eleanor pulling up the rear while Brittany led the way. Brittany turned her face around the corner, but then gasped. Quickly, Jeanette and Eleanor positioned themselves to look into the alley. It was just in time to see just the one assailant's face be brought down into a knee of a helmeted fighter. The guy fell down, holding on to a bleeding nose, crawling away. But it seemed like Captain wasn't going to let the guy off with just a broken nose. Swiftly, Captain swung his leg and hit the assailant's side. The man fell on the ground, groaning.

Captain spat an obscenity at the guy before turning his back away from the figure on the ground. Just then, a figure moved on the opposite side of the alley, behind a trash can. Brittany and Eleanor didn't seem to notice the guy as he lurched out from his hiding spot to move closer to Captain.

"Behind you!" Jeanette called out quickly. Brittany and Eleanor soon became aware of the other man and Captain spun around quickly to see who was calling him. The man didn't wait to find out if he was indeed discovered. He flung his entire weight at Captain.

The two seemed to start a scuffle. Brittany called to Eleanor and the two moved from their spot to jump into the fray. Jeanette just stood there, looking around her to see if there were any other hidden figures in the shadows. Then she began to wonder where Cook-y and Doc were. It seemed like only Captain was there. She glanced back at the fight. The guy was stumbling a little with Eleanor on his back hitting him in the kidneys and Brittany attacking him from the front. Captain was trying to position himself to take his hit, and found it every once in a while when Brittany seemed to move away. Then another thing caught her eye.

"His right leg! Hit his right leg!"

Captain seemed to have heard the advice and quickly moved around, seeing that the man didn't put a lot of weight on it, and kicked the leg as hard as he could. The man cried out in pain and fell to the ground on one knee. Eleanor had climbed off, feeling the man becoming a little unsteady. Captain moved to her old position and wrapped his arm around the guy's neck. After a few moments, the man was unconscious and the three were left to look at each other. Jeanette carefully moved into the alley and closer to her sisters.

"Aren't you going to thank us?" Brittany asked with a sneer, attempting to hide her voice a bit and breathing a little heavy.

"Thank who? Copy cats? Fakes!? I had it under control." He glared through his helmet and spoke sharply with his synthesized voiced.

"Copy cats!? We are not copying you."

Captain took a step back and gave the three girls a good look. "Seems like it to me."

"There you are," another synthesized voice called out from the other side of the alley. Doc and Cook-y were making their way down it. "Next time there are two whistles, how about we decide which one to go to." Doc was standing close to Captain, looking down at him.

"Look what we have here," Captain indicated to the three girls. Doc replied that he knew they were there already. Captain turned his attention back to Brittany. "We don't need any girls in this party, alright? So why don't you just turn your tails and head on back to the beauty parlor."

Brittany moved in closer, getting right into his masked face. "Excuse me, but we responded to three other signals tonight and beat the crap out of each of them. Copying? Beauty parlor? Maybe it's you who need to stay at home. We haven't gotten a scratch on us."

"We don't need any help of any kind. Especially from stupid little girls who probably would run home crying from just breaking a nail."

Jeanette could see it. Brittany had just snapped. The guy really needed to stop being so sexist, and he needed to stop three insults ago. Without any warning, Brittany swiftly gave Alvin a kick to a certain area that had no business being kicked. Captain crouched down and grabbed it, letting out a hiss of pain. Jeanette's eyes went wide and got even wider when Brittany spat back, "Are you going to cry now? Listen, why don't you just move to ruling a school instead of the streets, if you can't even handle that."

"Brittany?" Captain managed to huff out.

Brittany folded her arms across her chest, just staring down at him. Doc and Cook-y moved in closer to their brother while obviously keeping an eye on the three girls. Jeanette felt a little sorry for Alvin. He really should have been wearing something protective in that manner. Eleanor was just in a small fit of giggles. "Who are you talking about?" the eldest Miller replied in a calm voice, happy that the boy hadn't figured out her identity fully, even though she was pretty sure that he could have. How many other people were dressing up as vigilantes? She nodded to her sisters before turning to walk away.

Jeanette and Eleanor began to follow as Brittany walked past them, when Brittany stopped and looked over her shoulder at Captain. "Bye, Alvin," she purred out happily and lowering her glasses to wink at him before sashaying away, purposefully swaying her hips and starting to strut.


	14. Chapter 14

**And so the girls begin to fight. The problem that I had in the last chapter that I was mulling over for days on end was what to have the girls look like, believe it or not. Pretty simple, right? Well, hopefully all the people saying that I was writing a lot of sexist remarks are probably getting a little bit happier. Believe me, I am a feminist and it killed me to write those girls as…well, helpless. WARNING: LOTS OF CURSING IN THIS CHAPTER. So, onwards!**

The day had been absolutely great for Brittany and it was still before noon. She walked cheerfully from table to table, straightening and refolding shirts and other clothing while assisting the customers that walked in. What made the day so great, since she was simply doing things that she normally did while at work, was that she was still on her high from the night before. She had went out with her sisters for the past three nights to go hunting, and they had simply rocked. Sure, Jeanette was still having trouble, but they were simply the hottest things in crime fighting now.

What made it even better was that they were now getting news coverage. People had noticed that three girls were out there. Sure, it did annoy her to be called a copy-cat, but the message was clear: This was not a boy's only club. Anyone could help in the fight against crime and that was exactly what Brittany wanted people to know from their obviously more feminine outfits.

She hummed happily to herself as she refolded the front table for the millionth time that day. The table had some of their new products and everyone was constantly unfolding all the shirts. They just didn't need to look at the display, but they had to unfold one to see if it was just as great, then they had to unfold every other shirt while looking for their size. But in the mood that Brittany was in, she didn't mind. The door behind her opened and she could hear the beep. She turned around with her best smile and greeted the customer.

Almost instantly, though, her smile fell. Looking directly at her, with a smile on his face, but strict eyes, was Alvin. Brittany glanced around her to see where the store owner was before taking a step closer to him. She hadn't seen him since she kicked him in a pretty sensitive area and she was pretty certain that he wasn't too happy about that. Or about the fact that she was out on the streets fighting, which was exactly what he apparently didn't want her to do. She narrowed her eyes. He didn't want help because he thought she couldn't do it.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked politely, remembering that as long as he was in the store, and as long as she was on the clock, she was working and he was a customer. He took a step forward and casually looked around. She knew what he was seeing. A whole bunch of girl teen-trend clothing. There was nothing in here that he would ever want to buy. She did get a little annoyed when she saw him walk by her to the table she was working on, giving her a cold glance, and begin to sort through the clothing in a messy fashion.

"I was looking for a pretty flashy pair of aviators," he spoke coolly as he continued to ruffle up the table. Brittany rolled her eyes at the increasing mess and stepped next to him with a small smile.

"The sun glasses are over in that direction," Brittany pointed to the cash register and a rack of sun glasses. Alvin reached out quickly and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She turned her head to him and lost her smile, glaring daggers at him. "Let go of me, Alvin," she growled at him.

"What happened to your nails, Brittany? They used to be so long." He didn't look at her hand, but had set his piercing blue eyes right on her own pair of ice cold ones. He didn't even need to look at the nails, and neither did she. They both knew what the comment meant.

"Short nails are in season," she yanked her hand back and out of his grip. "What are you doing here?" She refused to remember that he was still a customer and instead kept her gaze on his, speaking in a low voice that even surprised her with its ferocity.

"You're one stubborn woman." Alvin moved in a little closer, keeping his eyes set. They could practically feel each other's breaths.

"And you're a sexist jackass."

"Just stop, yea?"

"Make me." Alvin opened his mouth to reply, seemingly moving closer although it was nearly impossible for him to do so. Brittany stood her ground. But both were brought back into reality at the sound of the door opening again. Brittany leaned away from Alvin and put on her smile again, looking at the customer. "Hi, how are you doing? Let me know if you need any help, okay?" She spoke in her perky tone as the girl simply smiled back as she turned down the wall to obviously go to the clearance rack. Brittany looked back at Alvin. "We are doing what we want to do, and you can either have us help you or you can have competition. It's your choice, Alvin," she turned sharply, smacking him in the face with her pony tail as she did so.

"You're more of an idiot than I ever thought you were if you think that you want this," he followed after her, still harshly whispering. "You don't. Sure, you may have a handle on it now, but you haven't got in that deep yet. What are you going to do when one of your sisters gets hurt?"

"What would you know about that? What, Simon gets hurt once and suddenly you wish you never did what you have been doing, for _eight years_! Yes, Alvin. You three have been doing this for that long, we know all about it." Brittany went over to another table to work on straightening that one. She picked up a shirt, but Alvin forced it down. She looked at him in a huff.

His eyes were more intense than angry. "I know a lot more about it than you could ever realize. And that time just shows that I know what I'm talking about."

"So what don't I realize, Alvin?" They were once again locked in just staring at each other. Brittany wasn't backing down, especially from someone who she thought was just trying to keep her down. He had done enough to show that he had no confidence in her as a fighter.

He waited a moment before moving quickly. He moved so fast that Brittany was surprised for a moment, ready to hit him back if she needed to. But he moved his hand up to his shirt and stretched out the neck of it until she could see a scar on his flesh just a few inches away from his left shoulder. He let go after he was sure she saw it. "That was a bullet, Brittany. You can't dodge those."

She had to think about that. Alvin had been shot. But those were the dangers that were out there. Just because she was out there looking for a fight didn't mean that she wouldn't be staring down a gun as a victim. It was just the roll of the dice, and it seemed as if Alvin had a bad roll on that day.

"Brittany!" she turned to see the store owner, a middle aged woman with very good fashion sense, calling to her. "Take a break, okay? Come back in half an hour." Brittany nodded, but wasn't too happy about it. Her one excuse at trying to get away from Alvin had just flew out the window. She looked back at Alvin and pursed her lips together. He cocked his head to the side, a small grin on his face, and was looking at the ceiling.

"Wow, half an hour? How about a milkshake?" he directed his eyes back at her, indicating that his offer was more of a command than anything else. "I sure could go for one of those right about now," he added harshly.

She thought for a moment. Here was a guy that bothered her all day at school and then constantly put her down outside of it when she wanted to help him. Now he was on to some sort of plan to get her off the path she was on, and he was not going to take no for an answer. But she was certainly going to give it to him, especially after trying to start an actual real fight at her job. "No thanks," she chirped, turning to walk around him and to the door. The weather was a little chilly, but not too bad that she couldn't walk around out there in a sweater.

He moved up next to her and held on to her elbow. "I won't take no for an answer, Britt."

"Don't call me that."

He guided her out the door and then down the street. She made a weak attempt to get away, but stopped upon seeing as how her boss had been watching them. Now that she was on the street with him with people all around her, she couldn't make much of a fuss. She didn't want to cause a scene. She would have caused a whistle, probably, and then the police would show up. Then they both would be under a type of suspicion. Less contact with the police was better. "Then how about a coffee."

She pulled her elbow away and stopped walking with him. He turned and looked back at her. She planted her feet and just looked at him. He clicked his tongue and placed his hands in his pockets, looking to the side. He took a step forward and looked her straight in the eyes. "You want a real story to explain how I know you're making a huge mistake? Fine, I got one for you. Mistakes haunt you for your entire life. Big mistakes. One slip up and you can't undo it. You know you were responsible and you fucked up and there isn't anything in this whole world that you can do to fix it. You really want to know, then you better walk with me, because there is no way in hell that I'm going to say it out here."

Mistake? The look that he gave Brittany was really one of nervousness, anger and fear. There was something behind everything, wasn't there. She sighed deeply and looked at him. "Fine, but I swear to God, Alvin, that if you are playing with me, I'm kicking you so hard, your kids will feel it."

Alvin rolled his eyes and pulled her again with him to a little quiet café a few more stores down. They walked in and Alvin pointed to a distant and secluded table while he went to the counter. After a few moments of sitting there, Alvin returned with two cups of coffee and some milk and sugar. He handed one of the cups to Brittany without looking at her. She just looked as he watched the people out the window walk by as she reached to add the milk and sugar to her coffee. She liked it light and sweet.

"When you're out there," Alvin started in quietly, "as the leader, you are responsible for your team. You make the decisions, and you better make the right ones every single damn time. When you don't, you know it and you usually know it when it's too late. The Simon thing…yea, that was my mistake, too. I should have listened to him that night before he went off by himself."

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Brittany questioned, getting a little bored with his apparent rambling. He blinked and seemed to snap himself back into the present. She didn't even realize that he went off somewhere else. He seemed to swallow and try to bite his lip. He wanted to reply in a way she just knew would make her mad, and he was trying to be nice.

"No," he voiced out eventually. He looked back at her and leaned in closer. "I haven't spoken about this before. None of us have. You need to keep this to yourself and only yourself, you got that?" He waited until she nodded in agreement. He didn't seem quite satisfied, but continued anyway. "I was supposed to walk Theodore to a cook-off or something like that one day when we were kids. It was at the park. But I didn't want to. An entire day at a park eating food just isn't my thing, right? It's his, though. And I was to walk him over there and stay with him for the entire thing. I got him there, but I didn't stay.

"When he didn't come home that night, we were worried. Dave was already pissed at me for leaving him. But he's a guy! He should have been able to take care of himself. But he didn't come home. And we called the cops. We called everyone. And we waited. We waited for a damn week, but all those pigs could say was that they were working on it. They had no leads. No clues. No idea! Bull. Si and I, we didn't buy that shit." Brittany was looking around to see if anyone was hearing Alvin cursing, but no one seemed to notice that the two were even having a conversation. She just wanted to listen. This was why they were fighting. It had to be!

"It took two fucking ten year old boys one damn week to find week old clues and follow a few stupid leads to find out where our baby brother was. One week! And when we got there…we took one look at Theo and then things went black for me. I remember seeing Theo and then I remember sitting in the back of Dave's car with police all around. Simon was next to me, really quiet and both me and him were covered in blood. I didn't know who's at the time. Theo was in the back of an ambulance a little ways away. Both of them, they both didn't look like my brothers. But they were."

"Plain and simple, Brittany, my stupid mistake for leaving Theodore at the park pretty much destroyed whatever it was that my brothers and I were. Theo was kidnapped by a fucking pedophile and tortured for two damn weeks. And Simon…Simon won't tell me what happened. But I'm pretty damn sure that both of us made that asshole regret he ever even looked at Theo. You want to go out there and be a damn fucking hero, then be my damn guest. You aren't going to listen. But you still have a life, which is something that we don't have anymore, and it's going to be _you_ that make those oh-so important decisions that decide the fate of your sisters. And if you make the wrong fucking move, then be prepared to carry that fucking guilt."

Alvin got up from the table, and Brittany moved, startled. She looked up at him and he adjusted his clothing and cap, refusing to look at her while clearing his throat. She had no idea that the boys had been involved in something like that. She really just thought that they were just out there for the glitz and glam of being heroes. But there was a greater force behind them that was pushing them. And she and her sisters…maybe Alvin was just trying to do anything he could to just keep them from fighting so that they didn't have the same pain that he had. She shook her head and stood up as well. Her break was almost over and she had to get back.

"If you still want to do this," Alvin directed his gaze back at Brittany, setting his face back into something that was more like the Alvin that Brittany knew, but one that she now knew was fake, "then come to our house for dinner tonight at six. And bring your sisters."

She sized herself up to him again and straightened out her shoulders, looking back at him. He was a jerk and a huge sexist, but maybe there was more to that too. She leaned in while he just looked at her, both returning to their normal selves as if the whole conversation never happened. She poked his chest. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to get a date with me, Seville," she moved her finger up fast and flicked his cap off his head.

He moved quick enough to catch it, but by the time he did, she was halfway out of the store and looking back at him with a smile and a wink. He smirked and chased after her. She moved a little bit quicker out of the store, stopping just outside the door and watching as he moved towards her. They looked at each other for a moment before Alvin nodded his head to walk away down the street.

"Wait a minute," she said, moving a little closer to him as he stopped to look at her. She took in a deep breath and glanced in his direction. "I know what you think of me, that I'm nothing but a gossip and full of drama, but I'm…I'm…thank you, Alvin. I meant it when I told you a while ago that I was here for you. You can trust me."

Alvin looked around him and nodded a bit before putting on a charming smile that made his eyes twinkle. "I know." He walked away and she smiled. But it soon fell. She had a lot to think about in the last hour of her shift and before she saw her sisters.

**And now we're making headway! It was literally killing me that I didn't have as much AxB in this, seriously. But I just couldn't wing it earlier on without it seeming a little forced. But now seemed perfect. Alvin and his backstory. And sorry for the swearing. I honestly believe that, with the story that the boys have, and with their ages, that Alvin would swear like a sailor. Also, don't worry. It's not going to get much more graphic than what has already popped up. **


	15. Chapter 15

**And on to the next chapter. Man, I have a serious time crunch on my hands. Kinda freaking out about it, to tell you the truth. But at least I can get my mind off of it by writing this out. So, time to see if the girls will accept Alvin's offer for dinner at the Seville's (answer in first sentence). Tee hee! Onwards!**

The three girls stood at the end of the walkway, coats and scarves wrapped around them, shielding themselves from the wind and cold rain that moved into the area that afternoon. Brittany just stared down the walkway for a moment, observing the brown front door, neat front yard, and some of the windows which were lit up from the inside. Jeanette stood next to Brittany, fumbling with a bag that she had slung over her shoulder. Eleanor was on the other side of Brittany, holding a covered dish that she had made once the girls had decided to take Alvin up on his offer.

"Well, we aren't getting any warmer out here," Brittany buried her face into her scarf as she began to walk forward into the unknown. Although it wasn't quite the unknown. Eleanor and Brittany had both had a very nice tour of the entire house. She had been shown all the rooms, the backyard, the various awards that the boys had received, and many other little trinkets that the house held. The outside was actually, this time, decorated fairly nicely, with white lights framing the house to give it more of a gingerbread feel to it.

The three girls walked up to the front door and Brittany raised her hand to knock on it. Before she did, however, she turned to look at her sisters. They had all decided that they would have one final conversation with the boys and see what they had to say to them in regards to their extra-curricular activities. This time would conclude the events that had led up to this. The girls would either have to fight with the boys, or alongside them. Of course, this could always go into a different direction. Brittany brought her hand down and rapped on the door.

They could hear someone call out that they got the door and in a few moments, both Theodore and Alvin were standing in front of the girls with warm, welcoming smiles. Brittany was a little put off from Alvin's appearance, seeing as how they had been fighting whenever they had been seeing each other. "Hey!" She heard him greet. "Come on in! We're just about ready to sit down and eat."

Theodore ushered the girls out of the cold and began to take their jackets and scarves, hanging them up along the door. He, of course, started with Eleanor. "We brought dessert," Eleanor smiled at Theodore as he turned away from her to put her belongings on the coat rack. He smiled back.

"Great! Nothing like a little poison to keep the evening interesting!" Alvin smirked, earning a glare from both Brittany and Eleanor. Alvin ignored it and then cocked his head to the side, looking at Brittany and her outfit once her coat was removed. "What happened to you? Got in a fight with a snow blower?"

Brittany looked down at her clothes. She had on a pair of skinny jeans, a pink and white chenille sweater with a large scoop neck that showed off her shoulders, and a pair of white suede and faux fur heeled boots. She had dressed up a little bit, since the girls didn't really have many occasions in which they really could justify it, and she thought she looked really good. She turned her head to scan Alvin, who was just wearing casual items. "Oh no, you didn't have to make _that_ much of an effort in your appearance. We're only company."

"I see you know how to use your teeth. Must have took forever to get the baby seal blood off of your jacket," he pointed to her shoes.

"There's something on your chin, Alvin. Oh wait, that's peach fuzz. Still haven't hit puberty, I see."

"Do you hear that? I think I just heard the sound of the rare ThinksShesFunny bird."

"Ha ha. Are you always this charming, or is it just me?"

Alvin stopped and gave her an interesting look. "It's just you," he said slowly and quietly.

Eleanor had been watching the scene unfold with the two casually shooting insults at each other. She sighed and rolled her eyes, and turned to see how Theodore was handling everything. But he wasn't standing next to her. She looked around the warm looking home, and she soon realized that Jeanette was missing too. Eleanor tapped Brittany on the shoulder to get her attention. "Where's Jeanette?" she asked.

Brittany's mouth went open. She turned her head around, searching with her eyes all the rooms that she could see into and everywhere else that she could lay her eyes on. She stopped when she noticed a sneer on Alvin's lips. Brittany's mind went into overdrive. Theodore was missing too. She had thought, along with her sisters, that the boys were finally willing to talk everything out and that was the whole reason for this entire thing. But they were apparently wrong. It was a trap and they took Jeanette.

Quickly, she grabbed Alvin's clothes and pulled his face closer to her. "Hey now. What type of guest attacks their host?"

"Where is she?" Brittany growled out quietly.

Alvin stood up straighter, pried Brittany's hands off of him, and repositioned his shirt that she had messed up. But he never took his eyes off of her and kept up with her glare. "There's a lesson for you in this, you know," he muttered back. "A few lessons. You pick off the weak first. And you better keep track of your team."

The fiery girl bristled and was about ready to jump at Alvin and claw his stupid face off. She could feel her hands shake with fear and frustration from bringing her sisters to this horrible house and under the mercy of the Seville boys. They still insisted that the girls were weak. Or, at least, Jeanette was. Yes, Jeanette wasn't picking this up as fast as Eleanor or Brittany, but she wasn't weak. Brittany was also forced to see, in that one instant, exactly what Alvin had talked with her about. She made a mistake by coming here, and she now was paying the price for it.

She could discuss with herself all day about what had happened. But first thing was first, she had to right her wrong and get Jeanette back. As she poised herself, Alvin held up his hand and then pointed to the entry way into the living room. She refused to look. Alvin just rolled his eyes and pointed in a more exaggerated manner. She glanced.

She could see Theodore bringing Jeanette out and back into the entry way. Jeanette looked like she had the surprise of her life, but was looking at Theodore intently and a little nervously, but still giving him her sweet, forgiving smile. It was kind of weird, seeing the tall girl looking eye to eye with the shortest Seville. Theodore was wearing a weak smile, apologizing over and over again for any type of shock or rude behavior. It was obvious that Jeanette was in fact taken against her will and by the sweetest Seville that the girls knew.

Spinning around, Brittany was about to confront Alvin, but Eleanor seemed to beat her to it. Quickly, Eleanor put her fist straight into Alvin's stomach and Alvin doubled over a little bit, not expecting the hit. "Wow," he eventually breathed out. The two girls were shaking with their own anger, and Brittany realized that Eleanor was her second in command, much like Simon was Alvin's. "You have one mean fist, there. I thought that Britt would have done that."

"Just wait. We have more where that came from," Eleanor sneered back. She actually still had the banana crème pie in her hand and while she gave Alvin that hit. It was a good thing. It would have been horrible if such a good pie went to waste.

"Fellas, what are you doing in there? I thought you were going to bring them into the kitchen," a friendly and brisk voice spoke from the direction of the kitchen. In a moment, a tall man with black hair, dark eyes, and a cheerful smile walked into the hallway, wiping his hands on a towel. Brittany's mouth dropped. This guy had to be the infamous Dave Seville and he was here with them all. But he couldn't have been more than thirty-eight years old! And he was very attractive for an older man.

She straightened herself up and put on her best smile. She held out her hand to the man gracefully and looked him straight in the eye. He had such long lashes. "Hello, sir. I'm Brittany Miller. Thank you so much for having us over for dinner tonight." He took her hand and greeted her back, taking a little time to explicitly tell her to call him Dave. She smiled a smile that she hoped would help her glow.

He turned to look at Jeanette, who was now removing her jacket and scarf and handing them timidly to Theodore. She fumbled a little bit with her clothing, dropping her bag on the floor in the process. She blushed, introduced herself, apologized, and fell into silence. Dave seemed to have good humor with her and didn't seem put off by her apparent lack of grace and he didn't seem to mind it.

"And I'm Eleanor Miller," Eleanor stepped forward with her pie in her hands. She held it out to him. "I hope that you don't mind, but we brought dessert."

Dave smiled a terrific smile that made Brittany melt a little and took the pie from her. "Wow, this looks great! Did you girls make this yourselves?"

"Not all of us. Eleanor is the chef of the family," Brittany put in quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alvin looking strangely at her and making faces at Theodore. She shrugged it off. "But we all came up with the idea. It's banana crème. We hope that's okay." She gave him puppy dog eyes.

Dave shook his head with his smile and looked at the three girls individually. "You're in luck, because the boys and I love banana crème pie. Thank you so much." He looked at Alvin and scowled to see that Alvin was apparently making fun of Brittany to Theodore. "Alvin, go down and get your brother, will you? Dinner is almost ready."

Alvin did a fake salute, which caused Dave to roll his eyes, and walked past them all to a door that was right in the hallway just before the kitchen. He swung it open with great panache and took in a deep breath. "Yo! Four-eyes! Dinner!"

A poof and a muffled vibration followed. The girls watched as Dave pinched the bridge of his nose and direct his eyes at his eldest son. Alvin gave a weak smirk and shrugged his shoulders. "He said I can't go down there anymore, Dave. I'm just respecting his wishes."

"Alvin, he meant you shouldn't touch anything down there." Dave sighed. "Just…Alvin, just go get the table set up, will you?"

Theodore beckoned the girls further into the house and into the living room. The three girls looked around at the Christmas decorations and the tree. The tree had white lights and red, blue, and green ornaments on it standing directly in the window. There were some presents under it and an old fashioned train running around the entire thing. Various other decorations were around the living room as well and it started to seem that Christmas was a big deal for the Seville's.

Just as the girls had taken a seat on the couch, they heard some coughing and footsteps coming up their way. Jeanette turned to see Simon walk in view and around to go up the stairs, going up them at a pick pace, wiping his glasses clean from whatever black soot was on them and him. Theodore directed their attention back to him and tried to keep them company as they waited. About five minutes later, he was still entertaining them, but Brittany was growing a little bored.

"We're having lasagna tonight. I hope you girls like it. Usually, I make dinner with Dave, but because we have guests tonight, I'm supposed to entertain you!"

That caught Brittany's attention and she furrowed her eyebrows to look at Theodore. "Dave knew we were coming?"

Theodore looked happily at Eleanor before nodding his head and looking at Brittany. "It was his idea. He heard about you girls somehow and said that we should invite you all over for dinner. He's pretty excited about it. We haven't had friends over in ages."

"Friends?"

Theodore nodded his head again with his smile in place. "We do consider you all as friends," a voice said from the doorway. The girls turned to see Simon, freshly clothed and cleaned up, coming into the living room. He made his greetings before speaking to Brittany again. "You are the closest things we've had to that for a long time." He ran his hand through his hair, but looked at it in surprise and disappointment as his hand was again covered in black soot. He sighed but sat down on the piano bench that was in the room.

"Alvin didn't tell you that Dave was going to be here?" Theodore asked.

Brittany shook her head as Simon and Theodore sighed. Brittany began wondering what would have happened if they hadn't come over tonight. If Dave was as excited as Theodore said he was, then he would have been pretty disappointed if the girls didn't show up. It was left to wonder what Alvin had planned in that scenario. But she didn't have time to dwell on it. Alvin had emerged and made a huge show to them all about how dinner was served. They all made their way into the dining room with Jeanette and Simon leading the way.

As Brittany went to walk past Alvin, he stopped her. She glared at him, but before she could speak, she followed with her eyes the direction that he was pointing. Right above them, hanging in the doorway, was mistletoe. She turned her eyes back to Alvin to see him presenting his cheek to her. She pushed him away and walked in the direction that the dining room was in. Alvin shrugged off the rejection and followed suit quickly, making a rude comment directly at Brittany. As Eleanor and Theodore went through, she stopped him and gave him another quick peck on the cheek. He blushed and gave her his smile in thanks. The two seemed to be very close to starting some type of relationship that was a little different than friendship and Theodore seemed a little confused about it.

The dinner went by smoothly, or at least, as smooth as a Seville dinner would go. Alvin kept on trying to egg Brittany into arguing with him, especially after he noticed the girl making subtle flirts to Dave. Dave tried to get to know the girls equally and was surprised to discover how similar his boys were to them. The girls repaid the favor, with both Eleanor and Brittany learning in surprise that Dave was a record producer as well as singing a verse of a well-known song to him with Jeanette. He had remarked that they might have a future as singers, if they wanted to pursue that. Simon was trying to keep Alvin in check. And Theodore was chirping happily to Eleanor, who was replying back to him, as well. It simply seemed like the dinner went splendidly, although very noisy.

After Eleanor's pie was cut into pieces and dessert was half over, the clock chimed for seven thirty. Dave checked his own watch and sighed. He stood up from the table. "Well, I have to go to work for a little bit. Thank you girls for coming over, and thank you for the terrific pie." The girls returned the gesture of gratitude happily. "I do hope you will come over again. Perhaps when it's warmer, you all can go swimming. We have a great pool. Boys," Dave gave his sons a stern look and pointed at them individually before keeping his finger on Alvin, "behave. You know the rules and I expect them to be followed. Theodore, do the dishes, please. And when the girls leave, you all walk them home, understand?" The boys nodded, but Alvin rolled his eyes. "Simon, you're in charge."

"Why is he in charge!?" Alvin called after his father before following him through the house. The girls just looked at each other curiously as they listened to Dave explain to Alvin that he knew very well why Simon was in charge of the house. From Theodore's and Simon's actions, it was apparent that this was a frequent discussion. It ended with Dave calling to his other boys that he would be back around ten that night.

After a few more moments and following the sound of the door closing, Alvin returned back into the dining room with a serious face. "He's gone. Now let's get this over with." He motioned with his hand for everyone to follow. Theodore and Simon got up from the table with straight faces, and the girls eventually followed. They all spread themselves out in the living room. Brittany had been confused about this whole thing after the appearance of Dave, but then it became obvious. It was two birds with one stone. They get Dave off their back and they get that conversation that they wanted to have with her and her sisters.

"You know," Alvin started, directing his statement to Brittany, "You could have eased up on the flirting with Dave."

Brittany flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Like I wouldn't do that. I know a handsome man when I see one." Alvin looked a little offended and indicated himself. "Like I said, a handsome man. You don't fit into either of those categories. So stop being jealous."

"We're getting off topic, here. Shall we start?" Simon interjected. Everyone nodded.

**I have to stop here for now, or else the chapter will get too long, since a lot is still needed for this visit. Yea, it's a little boring, but it's essential for the story to have these two filler chapters in it. So the next update will be the long awaited conversation. Main question, will the boys decide to fight against or with the girls? Also, I love that I got to put Dave in this. And frankly, I seriously have always thought that Brittany, in a situation in which she meets Dave when she is older and hasn't known him forever, would attempt a little flirting with him.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I was watching, as a side-note that has absolutely nothing to do with the Chipmunks, the music video for Katy Perry's "Roar". At the end, a tiger is wearing a name tag that says "Kitty Purry". It didn't make sense to me. But, to make the story short, I get it now. Seriously, I feel stupid. Ah well. This chapter is really a huge focus on SxJ. And you hear Simon's take on events in this. And it's looooong. Onwards!**

Alvin stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, giving Brittany a serious look. "I take it that since you actually showed up, then you're going to keep on hunting."

"The way that we see it, you still have those two choices, Alvin. You can have partners, or competition. You decide."

"Are you really, truly, absolutely sure that you can handle it? We gave you a taste of how it feels tonight with Jeanette."

"What did you do to Jeanette, Alvin?" Simon looked a little surprised, looking at Alvin and then to Jeanette. Jeanette sat next to him, trying to appear small now that the focus was on her. She just looked at her hands and bit her lip. Alvin huffed and pointed his finger at Simon while Theodore just shook his head, probably regretting being talked into the act by Alvin.

"We didn't hurt her, okay Simon? We just had to make a point and we did. So, Brittany, do you think you can handle that? What if she didn't come back? Think about it really carefully."

Brittany looked from one sister to the other. Yes, Alvin had made his point and it was pretty clear. She was so angry and so worried for Jeanette that she couldn't even decide how to act. But at least Eleanor was there to set her straight. "I still don't believe that she's weak, Alvin."

Alvin waved off the comment and looked at Jeanette. "We never said she was weak," Alvin directed his eyes back to Brittany. "We said she was the weakest. That means she's a target. We've been following you three for the past two nights. You fight in numbers that your targets are aware of. It doesn't take them long to figure out how to start picking you guys off, one by one. And if it wasn't for Eleanor, then Jeanette would probably be seriously hurt by now."

It hurt for Jeanette to hear what Alvin had to say. She shifted her eyes to her sisters. Brittany was looking angry and indignant, ready to battle it out with Alvin. Eleanor was quiet and looking at the floor. Jeanette had been feeling very horrible with herself, knowing that she wasn't really much help in the fights that they all had. She had to curse herself and her clumsy nature.

"It's a simple question," Alvin continued. One look at Theodore and Simon showed Jeanette that the two were in agreement with their brother. Jeanette's heart skipped a little and felt heavy. Simon thought she was weak as well. "Can you handle it when she," Alvin pointed directly at Jeanette, "gets hurt? And it's not 'if', it's 'when'."

"I can handle it. We all can. Because we are not weak!" Brittany spat back after a few seconds of silence. Alvin nodded his head.

"We'll fight with you, but we have some conditions."

Brittany scoffed and stood up in front of Alvin, not wanting to listen to him drone on about anything that would indicate the girls needed their help. "We don't need to fight with you, Alvin!"

"Yes you do! Please," Theodore had spoken up. It actually surprised the girls to see the youngest Seville, who was usually silent during these proceedings, to speak up. "There are a lot of things out there that we can teach you how to face. But we're putting ourselves in a little more danger by taking you girls under our wing. You watch out for each other, and with more people, there is more to focus on. We don't want you girls to do this, but since you are, we want to help you."

"Well said, Theo," Simon commended him. Brittany took in a deep breath to calm down and then glanced at her sisters. Eleanor nodded to her, indicating she wanted to hear the boys out. Jeanette seemed completely lost in thought.

Alvin cleared his throat to start up. "Okay, so here are our conditions. First, you don't go hunting without us. Second, you have to listen to us. And third, we all will train together. In return, we'll teach you all to fight and we can strengthen your weak link." Alvin pointed the last bit at Jeanette.

"Okay, so here's our answer. First, if you go hunting, we do. You're not going to leave us on the stupid side line, okay? Second, we want to have equal standing. You can't order us around the way that you order Theodore around. And third, Jeanette is not weak!"

"Are you insane!? We're talking about obeying a direct order in combat. What if I see that this guy has a sword and I tell you to move away? What are you going to do? Not listen to me and then get your head chopped off!?"

"You made it seem like we have to listen to every stupid thing you say!"

Simon got in between the two before they could scream any further. "What we are implying is that we are well aware that going into a partnership with you means that we are on equal standing. You will have a say in where we go and you will have a say in the operations of our hunting. Especially since you know the city better than us and you have an amazing social network." Alvin rolled his eyes behind his brother. It was obviously not a completely satisfying compromise. Brittany seemed a little satisfied at being mentioned for having all the good dirt. "And as for Jeanette," Simon cleared his throat and looked a little sad at his friend, "Alvin has already explained what we feel about her. She isn't weak, but she is the weakest. But I have a solution for that."

"Don't say that she can't fight. If she doesn't fight, then we don't fight."

"Great!" Alvin grinned from ear to ear.

"But she _will_ fight with us." Alvin lost his grin and plopped down on an arm chair.

Simon shook his head and looked at his friend, gaining her eye contact. "We have been following you all and it is apparent that, I am truly sorry to say this and I hope I don't offend, that you are having more than just a little difficulty with the fights."

Jeanette was silent and looked down. She really felt useless. She could hear Brittany and Eleanor both argue with Simon, telling him that she would be right there with them. Simon tried to interject a few times, but the girls seemed to overpower him. Once Alvin got into the argument, Simon had to try and get all of them to calm down. Eventually, Simon just sat back next to Jeanette and stared tiredly at the three as they continued. He looked at Jeanette with a small smirk, and something in her made her start to feel that Simon had no intention of letting her sit on the sidelines. He had an idea.

"Now will you all just shut up and let Simon tell you his idea? Damn it!" Alvin finalized the argument. All eyes turned to look at the brainy Seville. He looked at each of them, really making sure that they were ready to listen.

"Alright, so to continue. What we are all about to partake in is something that will be a little complicated. We have to keep track of each other, regroup if we get separated, act if one of us needs help, and in general, just coordinate our efforts. And Jeanette has the perfect natural talent that would assist in that, and I'm not even sure if she is aware that she possesses it."

Jeanette had to perk up at that. She had thought to herself a few times about the talents that her sisters had, but she never actually thought that she had any herself. Was this something that she even had, or was Simon just trying to make her feel better about a useless assignment. She turned her green eyes to him to find he was looking back at her. She blushed a little. "I don't have any talents."

He gave a small chuckle. "Yes, you do. Allow me to demonstrate, if you wouldn't mind. Close your eyes." Jeanette looked at her sisters who were looking at the both of them. She glanced back at Simon who asked her once again and she did so, shutting her eyes very tightly. She then felt Simon's hand rest over them, careful about her glasses, to make sure that she couldn't see. "Now tell me, what is exactly on top of our Christmas tree?"

The question really seemed out of the blue, but she just calmed herself down from Simon's touch and carefully thought of the tree. "You have a metallic angel with three stars above it, connected by springs, with the angel holding a large gold star in front of her." Simon took away his hand and she opened her eyes to see him smirking at her. She looked up at the tree to see she was correct. Her eyes went wide. She didn't even know how she knew the answer to begin with.

"So what does that mean?" Eleanor asked, a little bit surprised herself.

"We all see things. But not all of us can _observe_ at a level that Jeanette can. I have heard some people say some unkind things in lieu of you, Jeanette. I have heard that they call you clumsy and simply uncoordinated." Jeanette looked away ashamed. She couldn't believe that Simon had heard those things, but everyone in the school knew her as the klutz. "I have a different theory, entirely."

"Well, don't leave us in suspense. You're taking forever," Brittany spit out.

"Simon, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But I know very well that I'm just a klutz, unable to even walk straight let alone fight. You don't have to make me feel better about it," Jeanette eventually whispered out. His eyes went wide before he smiled kindly and leaned in a little bit. He began to speak to her directly, but loud enough so everyone could hear.

"You have what I have decided to call 'information overload'. You are observing so many things and you have so much information entering into your brain for processing that you are unable to stay focused on the things around you. You are trying to determine what you should and should not pay attention to, and that can lead to you becoming distracted or your attention being diverted away from what is presently going forward. Thus, you have too much information coming to you because of your natural talent to observe."

Jeanette began to deny these things, but her sisters merely looked at each other a little stunned, thinking of times when Jeanette knew something that no one else knew, such as seeing those decals on the back of the boy's helmets. It was starting to make a little bit of sense. "I have seen this several times now, Jeanette. In school and also on those streets. Tell me what happened the first night that you all went hunting and came across Alvin."

"We heard a whistle and responded," Jeanette answered a little slowly. She watched as Simon urged her to continue. "We rounded a corner to see Alvin fighting a male, but he didn't need any help. But then another came out from the shadows."

"Did anyone else see this man?" Jeanette shook her head. "It was just you, then. What did you do?"

"I called Alvin's attention to it." Simon nodded with a smile. "My sisters joined the fight at that point."

"How did he go down?"

"Alvin cut his air supply temporarily."

"No," Simon shook his head and then turned his attention back to her.

"You told us to hit his leg!" Brittany spoke up, looking directly at Jeanette. She could see exactly what Simon was talking about now. Simon nodded at Brittany.

Eleanor then was able to make the connection that Simon and Brittany had made a stood up excitedly. "You could see that he was weak in his leg! You observed it, Netta! If he wasn't hit in his weak spot, then he wouldn't have went down like that. The fight would have been longer and we would have been in danger of being spotted by the cops or someone else. You are incredible! But," Eleanor's face fell and she sat back down. "What does that have to do with Jeanette and fighting?"

"We can use that," Alvin put in casually.

"What if we have a home base and someone operating that side of things? We equip cameras and through wireless transmissions and our communication devices, Jeanette can view our fights and direct us accordingly based off her observations. She would be able to tell us if there is hidden dangers that we haven't spotted, like weapons or another adversary. If we get separated, she can command us to a rendezvous point. It can even get more complicated than that, if she feels up to listening to a police radio at the same time, to direct us away from them." Simon finished at looked over at Jeanette.

"I still don't like it. She isn't fighting with us. She's just on the sideline," Brittany pouted.

Jeanette had to think about this. She wanted to be out there with her sisters, keeping them safe and fighting alongside them. But she had already seen how hard that was for her. Yes, with more practice she should be able to fight a lot better, but Brittany wanted to be out there now and Jeanette just wasn't ready. But would her act be fighting or not? She would certainly be breaking more laws, using pirated radio waves and the like. She would be on the front line, out of the way of her sisters and friends. The military did these things frequently. There was offense and defense. She would be on defense in this scenario. She was the backup, but also have a huge amount of responsibility.

"What if…" Jeanette spoke up. She only had one problem with the idea after she sorted through it. Simon was in the middle of speaking with her sisters, probably explaining the same idea that Jeanette had just had herself. But upon hearing her, he turned his attention her way. "What if there is too much going on? There would be five cameras, so what if I miss something? Or not speak fast enough?"

Simon patted her arm and gave her a very encouraging smile. "You just need to focus on what you should look for, not what is there. That takes a little practice, but I know you can do that. Who knows, it might help you from your day to day life. Allow me another example. For this, I would like you to just focus on how many people are in the room. Now, if you wouldn't mind." Simon covered her eyes again.

She could hear some rustling and movement, but Simon kept his hand over her eyes. When he lifted them, she could only see the room for about three seconds before he removed her eyesight again. "Tell me," Simon insisted.

"Four, including yourself and me." Simon pulled his hand away and she could see Alvin and Eleanor entering into the room again. Eleanor gave Jeanette a small hug before walking away from her. Simon seemed to be beaming a little. It was then that it was decided and everyone was in agreement to at least give the idea a try. Even Brittany relented once she was made aware that Jeanette truly wasn't ready to run the streets just yet and more time practicing would do her some good.

Before the girls went home, Simon and Alvin had dug through their old equipment and made Eleanor and Brittany try on a helmet. Brittany argued a bit because it would mess up her hair, but when she was told that the helmet was the best way to put in a camera and a radio, she had to give in. Eleanor seemed happy about it, since it was a better way to hide their identities than just a pair of large sunglasses. It was also agreed that there would be no hunting until the boys, or rather Simon, had equipped the helmets and created a computer program that would manage the video feeds and that the first practice run should take place in about a week. It was close to nine thirty by the time that they all were ready to leave the house, the boys insisting that they had to follow Dave's rules.

Just before they all left, however, Jeanette sheepishly and shyly produced the stolen radio and returned it to Simon. A little bit of an eruption took place between Alvin and Brittany about the theft, and Brittany wasn't too happy with Jeanette for returning it, but things settled down quickly enough that they all could leave. Throughout the argument, though, Simon just had to chuckle to himself about the girls, taking that whole incident in stride.

Brittany and Alvin led the way down the street with Eleanor and Theodore following them. Simon and Jeanette brought up the rear, all six of them bracing the cold and huddled in coats, scarves, and the boys in hats. "Thank you, Simon. I was feeling pretty useless, to tell you the truth."

Simon sighed a looked away, sticking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I just hope you girls really know what you're getting in to. This type of work really shows you who you really are deep inside. It's a mirror of your true self, if you will."

Jeanette looked curiously at Simon. He was speaking quietly, but there was something in his calm voice that seemed a little different than the norm for him. "What did…what did you see? In the mirror, that is?" she queried quietly. Her heart seemed to stop with the look that Simon had given her. It was cold and lifeless, not at all in a way that she had seen him before. She waited with bated breath, but didn't have to wait long.

"A monster."

Jeanette wasn't sure if she heard right at first, but she didn't want to make Simon repeat himself. He had looked away and was just staring straight ahead at the back of Theodore's head with the same eyes he had looked at her with. She could see him thinking about something. But she couldn't help but to wonder how such a sweet, smart, and caring man could think of himself as a monster. Yes, they had that one fake incident when Simon made himself appear to be absolutely horrid, but she was sure that was just an act.

She looked ahead, but then her foot caught on her other one and she began to trip. She readied herself after a moments' assessment that she was going to hit the ground. But she could feel an arm reach out and take hold of her. She looked to see that Simon had caught her. Jeanette blushed furiously and looked away from him.

"You're…you're not a…a monster…Simon," she whispered into her scarf. He seemed to have heard her as he held on to her. She looked up to see him staring after their siblings. He waited until they were a fairly good distance a head of them before he began to walk at a slow pace with Jeanette next to him. He cleared his throat.

"I am," he replied back darkly. "So many people live out their lives without even being aware of what they are, but I had to face myself and now face the truth every time we hunt. I'm sorry that you don't agree, but there is nothing that you can say to change who I am."

"I really have never met another person who is kinder than you are." She was really blushing at that. It was the last thing she wanted to do, to reveal her hidden thoughts regarding her friend. She could see him shake his head out of the corner of her eye.

"You have asked me once why we do these things, Jeanette. I gave a very vague answer. Do you remember how I had told you that something happened to us when we were children?" He didn't wait for her to respond. "It happened to Theodore. He was taken by a man who used him in ways that no child should ever be used. He was a sick pedophile."

Jeanette let out a small gasp, unable to contain her surprise and shock. She looked ahead at the figure that was Theodore, hardly imagining how it must have been for the poor sweetheart. "Alvin and I had decided to find him on our own. And we discovered things about ourselves the night that we found Theodore that I had hoped we would never have to discover. I tell you these things in complete confidence. I am the only one who knows exactly what happened. Alvin blacked out the memory and Theodore was too traumatized to truly remember. If I continue, it is in hopes that you keep the truth hidden from them. Do you understand?"

He turned to look at her and he waited. She frowned and thought hard about this responsibility. It was a secret that not even Alvin or Theodore knew, and Simon was willing to impart it to her. It was going to help Jeanette understand him better, but also have her realize the extent that the change her sisters had decided upon would bring into their lives. Jeanette nodded back to him. He slowed his pace even more, trying to distance the two from the others.

"We found Theodore after a week of searching for him. We easily went into the home and Alvin was the one to find him first. I appeared only moments later from searching a different room to see Alvin holding on to Theodore and Theodore just vaguely aware of our presence. I won't impart how he looked or the state in which we found him in. It is too horrifying for words. I was simply shocked and could not move a muscle. Theodore is our happiness, and he was completely gone at that moment.

"As Alvin was comforting Theodore, the villain returned home. We were discovered. He pushed me into a wall, angry that we had invaded, and Alvin immediately jumped to Theodore's aid. Alvin tried to fight the man back. He was a brute of a man. He struck Alvin. I then looked around myself. There, in the corner of the room, was a fire poker. It was heavy. I can still remember the weight of it in my hand and the feel of its coarse, cool iron against my skin. I was completely calm in my actions. I knew what I was going to do. And I did it. That man is lucky he is still alive.

"When I was finished, though, I was almost positive that he wasn't. That was when I finally was able to see things for what they were. That man was selfish. Theodore was our sun. Alvin was the protector, still holding on to Theodore as I did my work. And I, I am a monster. I became aware that I was always a monster and I still am. No matter how hard I try to contain myself, or what actions I purposefully put on myself to do, or how to act, the fact remains unchanged: in a situation that I lose control on my outward self, the monster is there to take over.

"Days later, Theodore had convinced Alvin and himself that it was both Alvin and I who took our revenge. They had no idea that the only one with blood on their hands was me. They have no clue that I am the monster and that it was me who brought them into this world. And from then until now, I am in fear that the monster will return and take me further down the path that I had started down years ago. That is what the mirror has shown me. I hope for your sake that your reflection is much kinder than mine."

Jeanette had started to cry silent tears as she listened to Simon speak. She kept wiping them away, but more would appear in mere seconds. She could imagine the pain that the brothers had faced. How scared Theodore must have been. How angry Alvin probably felt. And then how broken her dear friend was and probably still is. However, she knew that she would never have a full grasp on those emotions. They were too intense to simply say that she understood. She would never understand and she never wanted to.

By the time that Simon had finished, she had to let out a sob. He was worried for herself and her sisters, and the other boys were probably worried too. If she thought of it, perhaps the boys acted in the ways that they did to try and deter the girls from the life of crime-fighting. When one technique didn't work, they tried another. But now, it was too late.

When he heard her sob, he turned to look at her. He was surprised to see her crying, and he quickly moved in front of her, lifting her face to his and gently wiping away some of the tears. He whispered words that he hoped would comfort her. She just continued to look into the eyes that were brought into her view. They had lost their cold appearance and were now as kind as she had known them to be. But perhaps those eyes that she had fallen in love with were false. She let out another sob and looked away.

"Please, Jeanette. Things are what they are, but you…I am so sorry. I knew that the story is a bit upsetting, but that was not my intention. I am sorry. Please, don't cry." He was still wiping away her tears.

"You…You are not a…a…a monster," she sniffled out as she cried. "A monster…monster wouldn't…they wouldn't regret. A m-m-monster wouldn't c-c-c-care. Not…n-not a monster. You are…n-n-not," she managed out. She kept on repeating her last statement as she cried into her hands, turning her face away from him.

Simon didn't know what to do. He really didn't mean to upset Jeanette that much, but it seemed that he miscalculated. All he wished to do was tell her that she had to be ready for whatever was going to come to her. But now, he felt horrible for making such a sweet girl cry for the second time. He thought he felt bad the first time, but it paled in comparison to this. With a quick decision, he pulled Jeanette close to him and wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her hands grip on to his coat and feel her bury her face into his chest.

"I know, you're right. I'm not a monster. It's okay," he murmured out. She shook her head.

"Y-y-you don't be-believe…that. Th-that mirror…it's a funhouse…m-m-mirror. Yo-you don't s-s-see the tr-truth." She could feel Simon's hand rub her back and hear his voice telling her it was okay and to calm down. Jeanette sniffled again and continued. "You…you are…k-kind and…and n-n-nice and…"

"Please calm down. It's okay. Shhh Netta."

Her eyes went wide and she had to stop her tears. She pulled away from him and looked up into his face. He looked down and gave a small smile, taking his hand to wipe the tears and to straighten her glasses on her face. She sniffed back, trying to breathe through her nose, surprised beyond anything that he would use her nickname. She wasn't even sure how he even heard it. "There now," he murmured to her, placing his hand on her cheek gently, keeping her eyes on him. "Now we just need a smile."

"How do…you know my…?"

He gave her a gentle smile, pulling her glasses off and giving them a quick cleaning before replacing them on her face. "Eleanor called you that tonight. I thought it was very cute. It is definitely unique for such a one-of-a-kind person." Jeanette gave a small smile and looked down, blushing and still sniffling. "There's that smile," Simon spoke gently.

"Hey! What are you two doing!?" Alvin yelled down the street. The pair looked up to see that Alvin was standing blocks away from them and the rest were nowhere to be seen. It looked like the two had lost track of their siblings. Simon shrugged his shoulders before stepping away from Jeanette, looking at her. She wiped her nose and smile back up at him. The two began to walk to catch up with the others, all the while Jeanette was thinking of a way to explain away her tear stained face and probably red eyes. Brittany would probably never let her near Simon again, either way.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks for sticking with me for this long, guys. I know that I make HUGE chapters and don't really go crazy for dialogue, so it can be laborious to read my stories. But thanks for the support and all that. So let's see if everyone can stick to their agreement. Side note: I always hear the Mortal Kombat theme in my head during fight scenes….Onwards!**

Brittany was truly addicted to this and had been after the first punch was thrown. But Eleanor couldn't blame her. It was exhilarating and she couldn't deny how much stronger and confident she felt during and after their encounters. And she could see the change emerging in her sisters. Brittany was starting to appear her old self with a little extra swing in her step and fire in her eyes. She was back to fearing nothing. As for Jeanette, although the girl had seemed very disheartened with her own participation in the fights, as soon as she was made aware of her special ability, she seemed to actually be acting confident in herself and using it every chance she got.

Yes, Brittany and Eleanor were very curious with their sister's appearance after they had dinner with the boys. No matter what Jeanette said as her excuse, it was clear that Simon was the one that made her cry. But Jeanette refused to say anything in regards to what had happened and, in the few days that followed, Jeanette would bring up the boy frequently enough for her sisters to notice and be absolutely certain that the tallest of them had at least a crush on him. The shy girl would just glow talking about him and she was putting all her strength in trying to just focus her attention on things. One day it would be the colors of cars, then the next would be the positions of minor objects around the house. The point being, Eleanor could see Jeanette rising to the occasion.

What was bothering her at the moment, however, as she was crouched down and double checking her position quickly, was that the girls were out hunting. She jumped and connected her fist to the underside of her opponents chin with ferocity. She watched as he tried to swing wildly at her, but she ducked, rolled, and popped up behind him, placing a kick in the center of his back, sending him forward. Eleanor glanced over her right shoulder.

Brittany had just hit her own opponent with the base of her palm in to his nose and he was staggering back, probably dealing with the sting and tearing eyes. Jeanette moved in and pulled on something near the man's waist. Eleanor directed her eyes to her own guy, who was now moving back to her. Eleanor decided to finish the job and gave the man a few jabs to his stomach, poked him in the eye, and gave her hardest right hook to his throat. She watched him stagger down the road, attempting to run. She looked back to her sisters.

Their own guy had his pants now around his ankles, exposing a pair of pretty flashy boxers. Jeanette must have somehow taken a belt off the guy, making it a little bit more difficult for the guy to move. Brittany jumped and spun, placing her four inch heeled boot to the side of the bad guys face. The force of which knocked him out. The three girls looked around to each other, each smiling, and Eleanor had to be amazed at Brittany's skill, although it was decided that Eleanor had the most talent when it came to this. But still, Brittany was in heels.

"That was great! Thank you thank you thank you!" a voice called to them. A younger girl came running to them, the victim of the attack. She quickly hugged the three Miller sisters and smiled big smiles. Brittany replied back and then told the girl to head straight on home. The girl nodded and ran off.

"No sirens yet," Jeanette muttered out as she watched the girl leave them.

"Seriously, we are just amazing. And Jean, that was just too funny what you did." Brittany gave Jeanette a friendly hug and a smile. Jeanette smiled back shyly, replying that she was just finding a way to make the fight more difficult for the guy. "Yea, and now it's going to be more humiliating for him to wake up in cuffs and no pants!"

"C'mon girls. Let's get out of here." Eleanor moved to walk away from the street and towards the alley, trying to keep themselves as hidden as possible. Brittany and Jeanette followed, but Brittany didn't stay behind Eleanor for long. Soon enough, she was leading the pack down the street.

"I can't help but feel guilty," Jeanette said before long. "We told the boys we would do this together with them."

Brittany flashed a look over her shoulder and lowered her sunglasses so she could see her sister better. "Yea, and crime doesn't stop. They can afford to take a day off or two and they should, since everyone is looking for them. But we need the practice and if we weren't out tonight, that poor little girl would have been in big trouble. Just think about that!"

Jeanette sighed, but didn't reply to Brittany. Eleanor had to stand behind her eldest sister. She was absolutely right and just because the boys weren't ready to have the girls join them just yet, didn't mean that the girls could take it easy. They had to be out there. They wanted to be out there. Even if they felt guilty about it. Eleanor quickly thought about Theodore. Yes, they would be out there to stop these things from happening, even if it was just one person they saved during this entire adventure. That one person was worth it.

The three rounded a corner and began to walk down a side street that wasn't used very often. It was a little strange that they had to start planning out their route to avoid the places that they knew the cops usually hung out at and also to the areas in which most of the evil gossip seemed to come from. Eleanor had to give more props to Brittany. Brittany didn't have them wandering the city at night for no reason. The girl knew exactly where they needed to be.

This was the reason that the boys gave for having Brittany with them. Or at least Simon seemed to allude to it. Brittany truly had a great social network. In a school that was as populated as theirs, it was a little frightening that she was able to keep track of nearly everything that went on. What made it even more amazing was that Brittany even had the dirt from outside her clique. Much like how Jeanette was just recently revealed with having superhuman observational powers, Brittany had a superhuman knowledge of activity in the city.

"Don't you think that we're going about this in a more complicated way?" Brittany mused in an almost singing voice. She had interrupted Eleanor from her reverie.

"What do you mean?" Jeanette questioned, also being pulled away from her own thoughts. Eleanor could tell that Jeanette seemed to be a little too into thinking after the 'nothing happened' thing with Simon, and she seemed even more thoughtful after Brittany had ordered her not to be in the same room alone with the guy anymore.

Brittany stopped and turned to face her sisters quickly. She looked from one to another. "I was just thinking that this isn't efficient for really getting these streets clean. We're just going after small fries, nothing too big to make an impact."

"So you want to make an impact?" Eleanor asked a little confused.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders and turned around again to continue walking. "All that I'm saying is that you don't just go out and buy one pair of jeans. You need a shirt, shoes, and accessories to go with it. So why go out and just beat up a lone drug dealer when you can hit the source?"

"For one, you're talking about a huge amount of people for three to go up against."

"Apparently there are six of us."

"Still, six can't take down a drug ring, Britt! The police can take care of that."

Eleanor could hear Brittany scoff. "Sure, just like how they're taking down that gang in that old warehouse in our neighborhood? Right, they are not doing what they need to do. All I'm saying is that we spend all this time going after one or two people doing evil when we could be spending that time and energy actually hitting the groups that encourage that behavior."

"Hitting the source, you mean," Jeanette put in quietly.

"Exactly!"

"We don't have the people, the resources, or the know-how to take down those big groups. You're talking about a war that we would lose in a heartbeat." Eleanor had to shake her head. She didn't want to give in to reason, but it was there, smack in her face. Going after the gangs was close to suicide.

"We've already lost, if that's how you feel about it."

Just as the conversation was about to continue, the girls heard a shrill sound off into the distance. The girls looked at each other and then took off into the direction that the whistle came from. It wasn't too far away, so the girls didn't have far to go, and, once again, they found their criminals in an alley.

Eleanor glanced around as they rounded the corner. It looked like there were four targets, three females and one male, confronting a girl who looked an awful lot like this girl in Eleanor's math class. It looked like the poor girl was being robbed, since Eleanor could hear the targets demanding money.

Brittany ran forward quickly, giving her sisters very little time to consider the situation further. Eleanor soon chased after her sister, intending to take the targets by surprise and support her headstrong sibling. Eleanor jumped up to kick the male, assuming he was the strongest to take down, while Brittany reached out and grabbed the hair of one of the girls. The male stumbled forward a bit. Eleanor smiled and looked over to her sister.

In her hand, Brittany had a wig. She looked up to see that she had done nothing while she had the element of surprise other than remove a distasteful piece of headwear. The female target turned to scream at Brittany, but Eleanor moved quick and punched the girl in the stomach. Something flashed behind her and in an instant Eleanor could see her classmate running past Jeanette, who was running into the alley.

Eleanor turned her face around, but was smacked hard by one of the other females. Instead of focusing on the hit, Eleanor sharpened her eyes and repaid the favor with her right hook to her jaw. Jeanette moved in and started to attempt to keep one of the other girls occupied. Eleanor focused again on her opponent, seeing the male starting to approach the fight. Eleanor gave the girl another right hook and a quick kick.

Brittany ducked low and brought her elbow up into her target's face as she jumped up quickly. She felt her elbow connect and heard it as well. The target moved back and put up her fists, just looking at Brittany. Then Brittany felt pressure on her back and she flew forward into her target, who threw her to the ground. Brittany's head slammed against the cracked asphalt.

Jeanette had seen this and backed away towards her sister, calling Eleanor's attention. After a few more punches in a four against two fight, the girls found themselves backed into a corner, Brittany struggling to get to her feet while Jeanette and Eleanor went on the defensive against their attackers and guarding their fallen comrade.

As one of the girls moved in, her lip bleeding and her face a little bruised, Eleanor shot out her fist and connected with her. The girl moved back, obviously trying to get her world to stop spinning, before she blacked out from the hit. Eleanor turned to look at the other three that they now had to take down and was trying to find a way to do it quickly. She tried to listen to Jeanette, but Jeanette was quiet, unable to really pay attention. Her information overload was taking over, apparently.

A shimmer of light directed Eleanor's attention away from the menacing figures. The male had produced a knife and was done with the fight. He was going to end it. Eleanor strengthened up and prepared herself to fight back, a little nervous about how to face this new threat.

"Surprise, jackass!" a strange voice called out and a dark leg hit the man's side, making contact with his ribs and startling him enough to drop the knife. Two sets of hands reached out and took a hold of the two girls. The girls were pulled back into the shadows and Eleanor watched as the man was quickly taken care of.

"Clear," a voice called out.

"Clear," another repeated in a different direction.

Three dark figures came out and looked past their tinted visors to the three girls. Eleanor and Jeanette's eyes went wide. The boys had saved them again. They turned to see Brittany, sitting on the ground and holding her head, looking at the boys in the way a little girl would look at her parents for getting caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

Before anyone could say anything, they could hear the sirens approaching. The boys acted quickly, Doc and Cook-y taking a hold of Brittany and Captain leading the way down the alley. The boys brought them to the abandoned building that they used as a meeting point. Instead of climbing the fire escape, however, the boys lead the girls around the back and brought them up a hidden flight of stairs just inside of the door. They all climbed silently and remained silent when they opened the door to the long room and filed in.

Captain went and closed the opened windows and the door after making sure that no one had followed them while Doc and Cook-y rested Brittany against a wall. The room was quiet. The boys and girls were both angry with each other for breaking their agreement and refused to speak to each other. For Jeanette, she felt a little betrayed and just looked at Doc sadly before staring down at the floor. Eleanor was just fuming. The whole agreement seemed to be for nothing, since the boys probably did it to just keep the girls off of the street. The Seville's were liars.

Brittany slid down the wall and continued to wait with her vision in a haze, a good distance away from Captain, holding her hand to her head. She could feel herself bleeding and becoming dizzy and tired. She took deep breaths and tried to understand what exactly had happened and how the girls had made a mistake. Yet, she had to laugh with herself. The boys were convinced that Jeanette would be the one hurt. Instead, it was her.

"What the hell was that!?" Alvin pulled his helmet off halfway in the middle of his sentence, so there was the synthesized sound along with his own voice in the old room of that old building. "I'll tell you what that was! That was a fucking disaster! Do you even realize what happened?" Eleanor and Jeanette refused to answer and Doc just leaned against a wall with his arms crossed, obviously annoyed. Cook-y was taking off his helmet. Alvin had his arms out with his palms up, one holding his helmet. He looked around at everyone, especially the girls. Then his eyes landed on Brittany. He huffed. "Doc, would you please patch her?" Doc nodded and moved to get their med kit. Jeanette decided to join him.

Brittany watched as Doc looked her injury over. Jeanette had opened the case and was going through the supplies. Brittany then lazily moved her eyes to where Alvin was standing, glaring at her. She sighed. "You can't be mad at us. You went out tonight too," she wasn't about to let go of her anger at their break in the pact just because she was hurt, but currently it was hard to muster up the strength for the right tone of voice. She just felt tired.

"Damn right we did! And you're fucking lucky for it."

"We had it under control." Eleanor snapped angrily at Alvin. She was through with taking his attitude that he always decided to give to her and her sisters.

"Bullshit! You were one person away from being completely screwed. If you went down, what do you think would have happened to you all, huh? Do you think those guys would have just walked away?"

Eleanor moved closer to Alvin, her fists clenched. "I could have taken them!" Alvin rolled his eyes and moved away from her, still angry and muttering to himself. Brittany could hear at least one of the insults that Alvin decided to mutter to himself about her and her sisters.

"Alvin, you say one more damn thing about me and my sisters, and I swear tonight will be your last." Brittany tried to push Doc away, but he kept her in place, commanding her to just sit still.

"Big words for you. What's the prognosis, Doc?"

Doc sighed and looked over his shoulder at Alvin. "Concussion. We're stopping the bleeding, but the rest I can't do anything for."

"Yea. A concussion. So, what are you going to do to me, again? Bleed on me? Pass out on me?"

Jeanette had just finished putting the bandage on Brittany and was beginning to put things away with Doc's help. Once Brittany realized she was free, she pushed the two out of the way and picked herself up, staggering a little due to her light head, against the protests of Doc and Jeanette. But she straightened herself out and stormed over to Alvin, refusing to pay attention to her weak legs and foggy vision. "Like you haven't had a damn concussion before! Don't act like you know what to do, because I can promise you that I can make better choices than you."

Alvin reacted and moved even closer to Brittany quickly enough that the rest of the team felt the two were going to come to blows with each other. "Maybe it's about time we have a little one-on-one and decide who the hell is going to lead this damn outfit, huh!? You all, stay here." Alvin commanded everyone, giving them all a fierce look before grabbing Brittany's hand and forcefully pulling her through a nearby doorway. It was the same doorway that they saw Cook-y walk out of the first time the girls ever directly met the Vigilante.

"Let go of me, asshole!" Brittany screamed, wrenching her hand free of his grip and giving him a smack with it. He took the hit, but focused on the floor, biting his lip and then clenching his jaw. "Don't touch me again!" He snapped his head up and focused his angry eyes on her, still attempting to control his anger. Brittany smoothed out her clothing and started to turn away. "I'm going home."

Alvin reached out again and took a hold of her, pushing her against the wall. She felt the hit against the wall and her hands pinned up by her head by his own. She pulled on them a little to see if she could get free, but quickly decided against it. She picked up her leg and kicked him for the second time in a certain place. He let go and hissed, moving away. "Maybe you should think about wearing a cup," Brittany spat at him.

"We're going to talk about this Brittany," Alvin ordered, moving again to try and restrain her. He grabbed her right arm and twisted it behind her back and he moved to hold her left. "You've gotten into a really nasty habit of being too damn confident with your _skills_. You are not hot shit out there."

Brittany tried to struggle, but Alvin really had her pinned and she really wasn't feeling a whole lot better. But she was feeling well enough to keep up the fight. "We are _not_ Theodore, Alvin. You can not control us. We will make our own decisions!" she cried out, freeing her left arm and quickly moving it by her shoulder where Alvin's face was. He moved away, but had to release her to dodge the hit. She turned to face him.

"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about," he said darkly. They both glared at each other before taking a step forward for their next moves. They had to halt when they heard Theodore and Eleanor start to ask if they were okay. "We're fine, Theo. Just a little talking, that's all!"

They had found themselves standing close to each other, breathing heavily and angrily. It was almost as close as the visit at Brittany's job. They looked into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to give in, but neither willing to do so. Brittany and Alvin only had their own thoughts to keep them occupied as they waited for the other to make a move. Then Alvin opened his mouth.

"Why don't you just think things through a little bit?" he whispered, losing all the attitude that he had previously. He watched her eyes with his own, searching them for any type of answer that would explain her actions for the night. She just looked back, refusing to back down although the entire atmosphere seemed to change instantly. But she herself couldn't understand why she really put herself in danger like that and she couldn't understand why she had to fight against him with everything, or why he had to fight back with her. And she really didn't understand why he seemed to back off just now. "We are so damn similar."

He leaned in a little, brushing his hand gently against the bandage on her temple, and she couldn't help but shiver a little and give a little gasp out of surprise. He moved in closer, closing his eyes, and brushed his lips against hers. She closed hers and pushed herself forward, cementing their kiss. She could feel his hands move to her waist and she allowed her own to rest on his chest. Brittany was starting to get lost in it. But then she snapped open her eyes.

"Only like things that remind you of yourself?" she murmured to him, pushing him away from her, but still within arm's length. He looked a little surprised before steeling his eyes and moving closer to her again.

"You shouldn't fight against me, Brittany. I always win." He gave her his smirk.

"Then you've met your match, Alvin. I never lose." She brushed her own lips against his before flashing her eyes up to his own and backing away from him, twirling her hair with a finger and gracing her own face with a mischievous smile. Quickly she turned around and sauntered back to her sisters, with her confident attitude returned. It was time for them all to go home. It was there that she would have the time and comfort to actually think of why she went from violently fighting with him to kissing Alvin Seville.

**I'm kind of…I'm not going to lie, but that whole romance thing really gets to me. I mean, it makes a lot of sense. They say there is a thin line between love and hate. And this is the second time I wrote something like that between the two without really intending it. And hey, the girls had to slip up. They've had way too much beginners luck. The street isn't all that kind.**

**Apparently, as another random comment, there is a lane near me that shares the same name as one of the Chipettes. I never noticed that before today. I was pretty happy to see that.**

**Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews, if you do them. Four more days is what I have left to write. Let's see what I can do.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hmmmm…Brittany has been bringing up a very good point repeatedly. Maybe it's time that is brought to light, yea? Also for the team to finally start **_**being**_** a team. That might be helpful to them all. Onwards, my dear friends.**

The girls were silent as they climbed the steps that lead up to the room that they all were in the night before. Each girl was very sore from the previous night, but Brittany really felt horrible. She had a huge headache which was probably because of her injury. It didn't help that Ms. Miller went into protective-mother mode after seeing the scrap, causing the girls to rack their brains for a good, believable lie. It also didn't help that she spent half the night, tossing in her bed, really trying to figure out why Alvin kissed her, and, more importantly, why she had kissed him. In the end, she had nothing but a headache.

That wasn't exactly true, though. Although she couldn't understand why he had kissed her and looked genuinely concerned for her, she could start to come to terms with why she had returned the gesture. She didn't want to say it out loud, and so she didn't. But to herself, in the solitude of her own mind, she could start to think it. She was attracted to the jerk, and the closer she got to him, the more she felt her attraction to him grow. The next riddle, though, was why _him_, and she had no answer.

If Brittany wasn't so wrapped up in her own thoughts and headache, she would have seen that Jeanette and Eleanor were just as quiet. Eleanor _could_ figure out why, even if Brittany didn't even notice. The two were still rather upset with the boys. It was just like them to make some sort of plan with the girls and then just leave them in suspense, waiting for the phone call that would never come, to tell the girls that they were ready to fight with them. Even the moments where the group wasn't worried about Alvin and Brittany last night, they all had remained silent with each other and nothing was resolved.

As the three neared the top of the climb, Eleanor could hear voices talking. The boys were already there and were waiting for them to arrive. She was about to just shrug off the noise and continue when the tone of the conversation stuck out to her. She put her arm out to stop her sisters from moving and held her finger to her lips, looking at her two sisters before they could say anything. Eleanor then slowly and carefully walked forward, listening hard to the boys, keeping out of sight from them. She couldn't see them, but she could hear them, and she could feel her sisters following her.

"She seriously needs to start understanding her limits! Starting to fucking piss me the hell off." It was Alvin's voice that reached their ears.

"Brittany is a lot like who you use to be and how did you start to learn your own limits?" Simon replied back in a more level and calm voice.

Alvin made a very audible huff before starting in again. "It would be a lot easier on her if she just followed our lead. And what the hell were they doing out there, anyway!? I can see it. They think that we were out there like they were. Shit!"

Eleanor looked at her sisters in surprise, seeing that Jeanette was sharing the same emotion. Brittany just rolled her eyes, not believing that the boys had another motive for going out. Eleanor listened in more closely. "Of course they won't believe us. And they can be mad at us, all they want. Point being is that we were right," Simon droned on. "We thought they would do something like that, we went to check up on them at their own house, and when they weren't there, they had to be hunting. But we've given them nothing to put their faith in us. We _have_ been trying to keep them away."

"I still wish there was a way to get them to just go back to being…well, high schoolers." Theodore seemed a little thoughtful.

"Well, there isn't. They just don't back down! And now we have partners," Alvin seemed to say the last word like it was poison, just spitting it out. "If they pull a stunt like that again, I say let them rot. We gave them warning, and we aren't babysitters." There was silence. Brittany seemed a little angry at the last bit, but before that she was a little thoughtful. It seemed like, at least to Eleanor, that they girls had jumped to their own conclusion before thinking things through. Alvin continued. "The world is shit and everything in it is just shit. But no one knows. No one can see it." There was some more silence for a few more moments. "They're late." Alvin seemed to start pacing across the room.

"This was a last minute request on our part, Alvin." Something with some weight was placed on the floor, making a dull thud. Then there was a clicking noise. Simon seemed to be working on something while they were conversing.

"They probably got themselves in some trouble. Again. C'mon Si. We're going to look for them and I swear it, I'm going to drag Miss Popularity back here by her hair when I find her." Eleanor had to move to keep Brittany from charging into the room. "Theodore, you stay here."

"That's it!" Theodore's voice rang out, echoing off the floors and the walls of the empty room. The boy seemed to have just snapped in anger. "I'm done with being ordered around by you two and I am done with all this hate and darkness and gloom! I am sick of this!"

"What!?" Alvin seemed to shout back. "We made a promise, Theodore. And the world is nothing but hate and gloom!"

"Shut up, Alvin. I have something to say and it's time that you two both listen to me!" There was silence that followed. The Seville boys were probably too shocked to even understand what was happening with their little brother. Eleanor, however, had to smile. Theodore was taking a stand and showing that strength that he had showed her weeks ago. Someone in the room sighed. "Something bad happened, okay? But because one bad thing happens doesn't mean that the entire world is bad. It's only as bad as you make it.

"But if you keep on reliving it, over and over again, then you keep it with you. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being angry, of begin hurt and scared. I'm tired of the nightmares, and don't you dare tell me that you aren't sick of those things too. You have them. I hear you two scream. I'm not saying that I'm done with hunting. We're in this, and we just can't stop, and I'm not ready to stop yet. But I am finished with the past holding me down, and I'm going to start picking myself back up and I'm going to accept what had happened, and I'm going to move past it. Aren't you tired of being so angry all the time, Alvin? And Simon, aren't you tired?"

Theodore waited for his brothers to confirm what they all knew. Theodore spoke again. "Now, I'm going to say something else, and this is because I am an _equal_ member of this team. Our pact is pretty much useless, now. Things have changed. The girls are in this with us, so the same old promise, made years ago, just doesn't hold up anymore. I'm happy about that, since I can actually try to make you two stop _babying_ me. Keep quiet, Alvin. I'm not done yet. Now, I don't like it any more than you two, that the girls are in this. But they are. I'm going to do what I can to help them out because I owe them that.

"If it wasn't for Eleanor, I don't know if I would ever have been able to see just how low I was. If I want to be her friend, then I need to bring her up, not down, and my life would only bring her down with me. She makes me feel like I did when we were kids. I remember what that feeling is called. Happy. So, I'm going to stand next to her and I'm going to do whatever I can to keep her safe until she gets sick of this whole thing. She helped me be strong and to start healing. Maybe her sisters can help you two, too."

They all were silent in the room. The girls were all dumbstruck. The most quiet out of the three boys and the one who was pushed around the most had spoken up and stood up. Eleanor truly had to smile. Her friend had found strength with her. He wanted to keep her safe and be near her without bringing her into the same darkness that the boys were in. He was changing, and trying to go forward instead of back. Someone in the room cleared his throat and began to speak. It was Alvin.

"Yea, I remember happy," Alvin was actually speaking rather sadly. "I used to feel like that before Britt began to piss me off. But Theo, there is a huge issue with your idea that we all should just move on. You're the only one who couldn't control what had happened that day. I…Theodore, you know it was me…"

"I don't blame you, Alvin. I never have and I never will. It wasn't your fault."

Alvin gave a little chuckle after a few moments. "Since when did you get so strong?" The then added, more quietly and sadly, "I'll give it a try, Theo."

Theodore laughed and then there was more silence. "Simon?" Theodore called to his other brother quietly. There was more silence that followed that and some footsteps that walked away from the door. Theodore called out for his brother again.

"I'm sorry," Simon's voice put in quietly. The girls could barely hear him. "I just can't right now. I…I just…I'm sorry, I can't."

"Yes you can, Simon. You just need to let it go. I know you can do it."

"I just can't, alright!" Simon yelled out before the room went into silence again. There was a sigh. "I'm sorry for snapping, but you don't know. I'm tired, but I'm not ready. I can't." Eleanor noticed Jeanette move in the corner of her eye. She looked at her tallest sister to see Jeanette biting her lip and her eyes watering. Eleanor had to scowl. Simon had either done something truly mean to Jeanette, Jeanette was just sad that Simon couldn't move on from his past, or Jeanette knew exactly what Simon had done that day that changed the Seville's lives. The last option wasn't that unlikely. If Theodore told Eleanor, then maybe Simon told Jeanette.

"I didn't mean to push you, Simon. Whenever you want to talk, though, or when you think you might be ready, I'm here for you. Until then, why don't you start doing things that make you feel better? I know being around Eleanor makes me feel great and that was what helped me out."

Simon gave Theodore a halfhearted reply. The boys seemed to have been sharing a warm brotherly moment at that time with Alvin included. But then a voice spoke above them all. "Yea, they're really late. I'm going to go look for them." Alvin's voice was coming closer.

Quickly, Brittany put herself together and pushed past her sisters and walked briskly into the room, her face one that looked annoyed. She almost ran straight into Alvin. "What do you want, Alvin? And how did you get Eleanor's phone number?"

Eleanor and Jeanette followed after Brittany, telling themselves to follow Brittany's lead. Apparently, Brittany had decided that the girls wouldn't even tell the boys that they were listening to them and had heard everything. It was going to be hard, though. Eleanor was really flattered and amazed that she had done so much for Theodore without even realizing it. The one of the three that would have had the hardest time coping with their experience was the first one ready to move on, and he had said that it was because of her.

Alvin looked a little surprised at the sudden appearance of the girls, but put his face back into its normal flirty mode. "Oh, you know how much I love the ladies," he brought out his phone and shook it at Brittany. "So many numbers, so little time."

Before an argument could start, Theodore poked his head around his brother and smiled at the girls. "He got it off of my phone, actually. We're ready, by the way. Hi, Eleanor," Theodore waved a little at his friend. Eleanor had to look away a little before turning back to look at him with a pink tint to her cheeks.

"Ready for what?" Brittany put her hands on her hips, trying to appear angry with the boys. She had to keep telling herself that they didn't know the reason the boys went out the previous night and that she didn't just hear this entire drama go down with them.

Simon stood up from his spot on the floor, moving a helmet off of his lap. His action gained the attention of the girls. "I have the equipment ready and we would like to show you a few moves against knife wielding enemies."

Brittany looked pointedly at her two sisters before folding her arms across her chest and looking directly at Alvin. "So you weren't going to just let us rot on the side?"

"What do you take me for? I am a man of my word. Now c'mon," Alvin pulled a knife out of his pocket, "let's get to work."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. We aren't actually going to practice with a real knife, are we?" Eleanor put up her hands and looked at her sisters, trying to keep up the act and just wanting to let last night go. Alvin waved it in front of her face and then stabbed it into his forearm. The girls instantly understood. It was the fake knife. Alvin led the way into the room and Theodore followed. The three girls shrugged their shoulders and went along with them.

"Jeanette," Simon spoke up behind them. The three girls stopped, Brittany eyeing Simon suspiciously. Simon rolled his eyes at her, but then looked at his friend. "You aren't going to practice with them right now."

Jeanette looked to where Alvin was trying to fake stab Theodore and then back to Simon. They were all here to learn to fight with the boys. Why wouldn't she go over there with them all, especially since she was the worst fighter? Simon seemed to have understood and he gestured to the things on the floor behind him. There were five helmets, his laptop, some tools, and a nearly empty black duffle bag. "You need to start training on the program and understanding the system. Shall we?"

The girl nodded and then followed Simon over to his set-up. Her sisters watched Jeanette cautiously before they were called over to Alvin and Theodore. Eleanor and Brittany were a little nervous to have Jeanette over near Simon, especially after the recent events with him. Eleanor was more and more leaning towards Brittany's consistent opinion of the guy. He was probably the most dangerous out of the three, and their timid sister was getting involved with him. That didn't sit well with her.

Eleanor had to admit to herself, though, that she didn't know Simon very well. Perhaps Jeanette was the only one who knew him the best out of the three girls. But from the way that Simon would act in school, a time in which the boys seemed to revert back to their 'old' selves, Simon was a loner and was creeping out a lot of people. He had turned on a dime during that time at the Seville house. They were told later that it was all an act, but he could have done something entirely different and he was very believable. Then there was the fact that something had happened between him and Jeanette that had Jeanette occupied. Finally, there was that conversation. Theodore was ready to move on and Alvin said he was going to give it a try. Simon wasn't even willing to attempt it. He was unpredictable and that made him dangerous.

Jeanette quietly followed Simon away from her siblings, her heart beating a little bit faster now. She took a seat next to Simon on the floor and had to think about why her heart would start racing when it had been relatively steady for a while now. She always sat next to him during chemistry. Maybe it was because this was a more intimate setting. Just her and Simon, sitting on the floor, huddled together over his personal inventions.

Simon didn't seem to have noticed the mood or was simply too engrossed in his work to pay it much mind. He reached for a near-by helmet and presented the inside of it to Jeanette. He was explaining to her where the things were and giving her an exact run through of how to operate everything in it, from the transitioning between the voice synthesizer to the radio, straight to how the camera was set up. Jeanette, to get a better look, had to move in closer to the helmet, trying to focus on it instead of him.

Once the entire thing was gone through, he handed it to her before reaching for his laptop and turning it on. She turned it over in her hand and looked at the decal in the back. There was a white soccer ball on it. "Simon, who's is this?"

Simon pushed his glasses up his nose and leaned over to see the decal better, taking his eyes away from the start-up screen of his computer. "Eleanor's," he muttered out before turning his attention back to his computer so he could unlock it. He added more to his statement absentmindedly. "Theodore picked it out, saying it will go along with her alias."

That got Jeanette's attention. She didn't know if her sisters had aliases or not, but now that Simon brought it up, it made sense for them to have one. They couldn't just call each other by their names. They were using their nicknames, though, but that wasn't much of a disguise. They had to hide themselves, not expose themselves. "So what is Eleanor's alias?" Jeanette set Eleanor's helmet down and reached for another one. She kept on looking at the helmets until she found Brittany's, finding a white crown on that one.

"Theodore wanted to call Eleanor 'Kicks', since she is apparently excellent at soccer. If Eleanor hates it, I suppose we could change it. I already have the aliases set up in the video program, but I can change it if I need to." Simon moved the computer to check the battery supply before he started up any program. He looked up to notice Jeanette viewing Brittany's helmet. "Alvin picked hers out."

"It isn't…offensive, right?" Jeanette asked, chuckling a little nervously.

Simon looked at the ceiling and furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought. "I don't think it is. He wants to call her 'Queen Bee', because of her 'hive', so to speak. He's pretty insistent on that, so I don't think I can change up that name, even if she hates it." Simon had to shake his head slowly and chuckle.

Jeanette chuckled along with him. She didn't think the name was bad, but she was pretty sure that Brittany would have wanted something different. And Eleanor would probably like her name, it being short, spunky, and pretty fun. Jeanette looked back at the decal and touched it. She wouldn't be needing one of these. She was just at home base, wherever that was. What use was it to have an alias when she wasn't even going to be visible? Jeanette sighed.

A hand reached down, startling Jeanette a little, and removed the helmet from her lap. She looked to see Simon placing it down tenderly and then moving his laptop into her hands. She looked down at the desktop at the few icons on the left side. "So, where is the program?"

Simon pointed to a pair of wings at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. His shoulder was touching hers, and she had to take in a deep breath to steady her heart, but she could feel her face blushing. "Open it up. It's a pretty straight forward system, but I need to run through it with you. I made it in about a week, so there are going to be a lot of bugs to work out and we have to adjust for lag time from the camera feeds to the screen and a lot of other little annoying things."

"But I don't think there would be bugs in this."

"I am sure there are. One week is not enough time to create a perfectly functioning program. It takes a while and some things happen that you can't anticipate in the real world. We just have to work through them."

Jeanette clicked on the wings and a large window came up that had five black boxes separated by white lines. In each box, there was a name. The top three were the boys' aliases. The bottom two had Kicks and Bee. Jeanette looked at Simon. "I thought that Brittany was 'Queen Bee'?"

"She is. But that's a little long to say when you're rushed for time. Bee will suffice. She might think it's a little cuter, too." He looked up at Jeanette, smiling his crooked smirk. He then lost it and looked at her a little seriously. "You have one too. We can't be talking to you with your real name when we're out there."

Jeanette visibly perked up at this. Having an alias would really make her feel like one of the team even though she was stuck away from the action. He pointed to the top bar of the window that was opened on the screen. She adjusted her glasses and leaned in, feeling his shoulder again and knowing he was very close to her. She read the program's name.

_Guardian Angel_

She turned her face to look at him, a small blush appearing. But he had turned his face away and was picking at something on the leg of his jeans and wouldn't let her see his entire face. She couldn't do anything but smile at him from behind her glasses. He glanced over at her.

Something then flew past them, right in between the two. Simon reacted in enough time to push her away and to lean back. Jeanette turned her eyes to where the object fell to see the fake knife. "My bad, Simon!" Brittany called out. Jeanette looked over at her sister to see her looking apologetic, but there was something in her eye that made Jeanette doubt it. Also, Brittany nearly hit Jeanette, but strictly apologized to Simon. Brittany then walked over, around them, and picked up the knife. The sounds of laughter were coming from the others with Alvin making fun of Simon for almost getting smacked with it. "I didn't realize that I didn't have that good of a grip on it."

Brittany turned and Jeanette watched as her older sister walked back to Eleanor. Eleanor had a small smile on her face and nodded to Brittany. Jeanette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and glanced over at Simon. Simon was pinching the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "Okay," he started slowly, sounding as confused as she was. "Let's start with turning the cameras on and testing the visuals. We'll work on the audio and radio communication after." Jeanette shrugged off the Brittany thing and nodded. She would try to ask about it later.

**Yea, so, last chapter, I forgot to include anything about the girls' sunglasses. Which is a shame, because each time I wrote that word, I would start singing, "I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can so I can see…". I would assume that Brittany's sunglasses are probably banged up by now. Anyway, I don't have to worry about those anymore, 'cause Simon got the helmets up! Yay! **

**Another note of possible interest, I have story notes for this now. It got to a point where so much has happened and the mood of the characters have changed so much that I had to write notes to make sure I didn't leave any loose ends when I eventually finish this. But now I have some massive story ideas and the climax just got that much better, in my mind, and blah, blah, blah. Also (Spoiler!) two major points have come out from this. About the whistle system that the girls started. **

**Finally, I hate making Simon hated by Eleanor and Brittany. But if I was in their position and my sweet sister was getting involved with that type of guy, I wouldn't be for it. In fact, I made it clear with my own sister how much I hated this one guy she was seeing. So yea, poor Simon. **

**Thank you all again and until next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

**So, I'm going through my notes for this story, right? Finding out what events I want to happen and what should happen and loose ends and yada yada yada. I'm actually stuck on a fine detail. And that is a name to call a gang. If you have any ideas, PM or post in the review or something. If not, I'll probably just put in something stupid like "the Rabid Turtles" And based off of my story notes, there are at least thirteen more chapters. Don't know if I can do that in two days. I might pull an all-nighter for you guys, just because I love you all sooooo much. *huggles***

**DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY (Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask. Woke up thinking that today.)**

'I am not happy,' Brittany's, or Bee's, voice cracked out in Eleanor's earpiece. Eleanor glanced over through the polarized visor, being able to see Brittany's strutting form as it walked alongside her. The group was having their test run tonight to see how they all could work together. There was only one day left of Christmas break and they figured that tonight would be the best night, in case there was an injury. But when they were all suiting up at the abandoned building, Brittany found out her alias and had thrown a fit, especially after she discovered the name that Jeanette was going under.

'I'm beginning to think that you are rarely happy,' Doc's voice replied. Eleanor tensed at hearing the boy, who was bringing up the rear as the team made their ways across roof tops. This was either going to cause a huge ruckus with her sister, or Bee was just going to turn around and smack the crap out of him. Either way, the two sisters did not want to talk to him.

'If it's not one thing, it's another. Besides, I like the name," Captain stopped after leaping across a gap, and turned to start assisting the others across. He brought up his hand, though, and moved it through the air in zig-zagging lines and circles. 'You're just a buzzing little bee, collecting honey from all your subjects.'

Eleanor had just jumped the gap following Cook-y and turned to see Bee standing on the other side, her hands on her hips, as Doc just shrugged his shoulders and went past her. 'You all got to pick your names. Why can't we?'

"I didn't pick my name, but I like it," Eleanor put in happily. She looked at Cook-y and tried to give him a smile. He was looking at her and she was pretty sure he was trying to do the same. He had told her that he picked it out for her.

Captain made an exaggerated show of exasperation and held out his hand to assist her across the gap safely. 'We've been stuck with our names since we were, like, eleven. I don't like mine any more than you like yours. But we're sticking with them. If we change our aliases every damn month, then we're going to get confused. Now are you coming, or not, Bee?' Captain made sure to exaggerate her alias.

'Um…guys? Could you please keep the communication line open?' Eleanor could hear her timid sister's quiet voice as she watched Bee leap gracefully over the gap, ignoring Captain's helping hand.

'How can you even do this in those?' Captain continued, pointing to Bee's shoes while Bee walked across the rooftop.

'Don't change the subject.' Bee whirled back around and pointed her gloved finger at Captain. 'I hate my name and I want to change it to something better.'

'Like what?' Captain folded his arms across his chest. Eleanor rolled her eyes and walked towards her sister with the intent of continuing their hunt for crime. She could hear Cook-y sigh a little as he followed her.

Bee stood there and thought a little, looking away. If Eleanor was Jeanette, she would probably be getting sea-sick by now with all the moving cameras that were placed inside their helmets. Eleanor at least knew that when they were all speaking out through their voice synthesizers, it took a while for her to get used to hearing Bee's voice. It sounded really different. 'I wouldn't mind Jeanette's name'.

'Guys…please use the radio only for…

Captain looked over his shoulder to see Doc with his hands in his pockets, looking as if he wasn't anywhere near this conversation. Captain had to smile and shake his head, ready to reveal some intimate information about his little brother, interrupting the girl they were talking about. 'Nah, Doc picked that name out special. And it fits what she's doing. She's our little angel, watching over us and keeping us safe. So it fits and that's hers. You're our little Queen Bee, and that's that.'

'Why you little…' Bee began in.

'Speaking of the visuals, have you noticed any lag time or glitches?' Doc interrupted Bee, happy to end their argument and get down to work.

'Don't interrupt me!'

'I wouldn't have to if we were using the audio line the way we are supposed to. Now, back to the matter. Anything?'

They were all on the other side of the roof now, Eleanor and Cook-y looking around for the way down or for any sign of trouble. Bee was probably giving a death glare at Doc, but Doc was ignoring her and keeping his attention on his question. Captain gently pushed past Bee and was moving his head around very fast while standing still.

'Um…none that I can see. Everything seems to be syncing and in real time. Every once in a while, though, one or two of the cameras are freezing up, I guess. Perhaps interference? Captain, will you please stop moving your camera around like that?'

Eleanor heard Captain chuckle as he stopped moving. She couldn't believe that Captain was thinking the same thing that she was. It must be hard for Jean—Angel, to keep things straight with five moving screens in front of her. Cook-y reached out and got Eleanor's attention, pointing to a ladder a little ways down the rooftop. They would climb down from there.

"C'mon everyone, let's keep moving." Eleanor waved her hand and pointed in the direction of the ladder. Cook-y and Eleanor began to make their way towards it, not really paying attention if the others were following them. But she could hear Doc speak with Angel regarding possibilities of the freezing screens.

Once the team had settled down from their little communications, they all made their way down the old metal ladder and into an alley. They followed Captain and Bee as they turned to go into another cross alley. It was then that they heard the same old sound that they always were listening for. A whistle had gone off.

Bee had decided to take the lead, figuring out the fastest route to the scene. Captain did look like he was trying to get a head of her, but after a shortcut that Bee had made the team take, Captain backed off a bit, willing to let the girl direct them all. They ended up in the back of an old run-down gas station that had once been very busy but closed down after rocketing their prices for fuel.

Eleanor observed five targets and one standing in front of the targets, still blowing the whistle. She heard Bee say a warning about the location, but there wasn't much room for conversation afterwards. Captain launched into the fight with Cook-y right behind him. Eleanor had to move at that point, hoping that Bee was behind her while trying to listen to Doc ask Angel to repeat something she had said.

But Captain went up first, Cook-y ducking behind the entire group of targets and into the shadows, and he thrust his fist into the back of the first male he came to, sending him forward into the others. Once Bee entered into the fight and took her opponent near the back of the group, things began to move very quickly for Eleanor.

She faced off with her own who was shouting at her angrily and calling her names. She ignored his shouts and decided to start with a quick step on his own foot and then a kick to the opposite knee, causing him to buckle. She felt someone behind her try to grab her arm. She swung her body around and hit her fist into another target before turning to see what had happened to her first.

The fight was turning into something very confusing with the amount of people, and all that Eleanor could do was focus on the ones approaching her. She couldn't bother to look for her sister or for the boys to see if they were in any type of trouble. And she cursed her somewhat limited field of vision due to the helmet. She took in a deep breath and performed a perfect kick. It seemed as if these targets just kept on coming and she was trying to focus on what was going on ahead of her.

Something began to buzz in her ear. She shook her head and she wiggled out of the grip of a target, only to turn around and push the assailant back. She heard the buzz again, but it was more annoying than anything. There was too much going forward for her to really want to pay attention to it. 'Angel, you have to speak a hell of a lot louder!' she finally could make out Doc's voice crackling through the radio. Her eyes went wide. It was her sister trying to communicate with them about the fight, so she needed to listen harder, and forget, temporarily, the attitude that Doc had given her.

'Multiple targets!' Jeanette stuttered out, unsure of herself.

'No, really!?' Captain's voice rang through as well as a grunt from him. Eleanor cartwheeled away from on target to give her some space before starting her attack. 'You gotta speak with stuttering!'

'No, you're surrounded. More than five. At least ten…no, twelve.' Angel's voice gained a little more confidence.

'Told you this was a hang out!' Bee screamed immediately after her comment.

'Bee's in trouble!'

Eleanor pushed her hand into a nose and then turned to try to see where Bee was, stopping for just a moment. Her pause was a mistake. She felt a hit to her chest and then could see the arm retract away. She took a moment to take a deep breath, dodging as she could away from those that were coming towards her, trying to keep an eye on those that might be behind her. She positioned herself, trying to shake the pain away, and get her bearings again.

'I got her,' Doc's voice ran through.

'Victim on the left, Doc,'

Eleanor ran forward, kicking a target in a few sensitive places and pressure points that she had been focusing on recently. He bent over and Eleanor could see Captain a few feet from her. He obviously noticed his brother moving away from the shadows to the far side of the lot, where Bee currently was at. 'Quick, Doc!' Bee was in big trouble. She was closest to the building and that was where the assailants were coming from. She was completely outnumbered. Eleanor took another hit.

Anger was surging through her with the second hit. She turned and put most of her strength in one solid hit to the man's face. It seemed to be too much for him and he went down. But one down didn't mean the fight was over. She looked to the next, running straight for a few that were crowding around another helmeted fighter who she was able to identify as Cook-y. She pushed her way through and then stood to his back, figuring with the numbers, it was too much for him to just be in the shadows.

Cook-y didn't ask her, but turned to grab her hands. She seemed to realize what was happening when he began to spin her, Eleanor kicked her legs out, feeling the hits on the bodies. He put her down soon afterwards for the pair to finish the job for their fight. 'Gun! Gun! Gun!'

'Where, Angel!?' Captain shouted back.

The sound of a gunshot rang through the night, startling most of the people in the lot and probably the surrounding houses and neighborhood. The countdown had begun for the appearance of the cops. Eleanor and Cook-y spared a short glance at each other before throwing their bodies completely into the fight. Captain seemed to have been doing the same thing.

'Status on Bee and Doc! What's up with those two!?' Captain commanded. Eleanor had been too busy to really comprehend that they didn't know what had happened since Bee needed help. And the gunshot had Eleanor fighting harder than ever. If she had the time to think about it that was probably why Captain was leading them. He was able to keep it all in his head while the fight progressed. 'Don't leave us in suspense, Angel!'

'I'm green, you asshole,' Bee answered for Angel. Eleanor sighed in relief. Her sister was okay and the numbers against them were slowly but surely dying down. But from the hits that she had taken, she wasn't sure if she would be able to continue.

'Doc?' The radio stopped cracking for a moment. She could hear Angel report that there were now seven still standing. Then she corrected herself to six. 'Doc!?' Eleanor and Cook-y made a few more hits to a few others that seemed to be standing near them for the fight. They weren't going to be backing down just yet, it appears. 'Answer me! DOC!'

'He's…'Angel began, but she seemed to mumble out the rest.

Captain let out a huge roar, distracting everyone to the center. Captain made quick work of the rest of the men near him, some of which had pipes as weapons. Eleanor's heart was now racing. 'He's…someone…' Something was very wrong. They had to finish this and very quickly. As she readied herself, those standing near her stopped their approach. Probably three were left now.

'Oh my God,' Cook-y muttered out slowly. Eleanor looked around her to see that the fighting had stopped. Everyone was looking over towards the building. She turned her attention there and she gasped.

There were no words to describe the carnage taking place over there. Doc was taking on two men at once, the three were unaware that all the fighting had stopped and all eyes were on them. If it was a little different, the team would have raced over there, but they were simply shocked. Doc had it so under control that it was torture to the targets. Doc had apparently found a chain and was swinging it, tripping his targets and assaulting them with it. The men he faced were bloody from Doc's attacks, but there were obviously strictly on the defensive and barely able to stand, but seemingly too afraid to run in case Doc went after them.

One of the nearby targets went to move past Eleanor, screaming out angrily at Doc. That started the fight back up, but it was now which group could make it over there before the other. The targets were obviously now focused on trying to get to Doc to get him to stop. And the team were obviously trying to get over to Doc to get him to stop, as well. It was too much.

Eleanor moved quickly, listening as Captain and Cook-y both pleaded with their brother. But Doc didn't seem to hear. Even Angel was attempting something. Eleanor narrowed her eyes, hearing Angel's voice. It was scared. Angel was getting a firsthand view of what Doc was doing over there. Quickly, the team had eliminated all targets. Eleanor looked over, standing next to Cook-y, as they watched Captain run over to Doc, calling to him over and over.

Doc's targets had finally fallen. They were on the ground, unable to pick themselves back up. They moved, still conscious, but they were now being subjected to slow and meticulous attacks on them by Doc. He would go from one to another, placing a sharp kick or fierce jab at them, losing the chain entirely.

'Doc!' Captain screamed, grabbing a hold of his brother. It seemed like Doc was about to go after this new threat, unable to register that it was his brother. Captain moved his arm to block a hit, calling to his brother over and over again. That block seemed to bring Doc back into the picture. Eleanor and Cook-y had walked over, Cook-y moving in closer to his brothers. They were speaking to each other without saying anything, the way that Angel had told her sisters they do.

Bee was next to Eleanor, and she placed her hand on her sisters' shoulder, startling her. Bee pointed to the ground a few feet away from the boys. There, shining in the street light, was the gun that Angel had warned them about. But before anything else could be done or said, they heard the sirens. It was time to move, and the team did so.

Page break

The team climbed silently up the stairs to the third floor of the building to where Jeanette was waiting for them. She could see their approach, and once they were a story away, and she could hear the creaking of the floor, she pulled off the headset that she was wearing and walked to where her siblings and friends would appear. No words had been said since they ran off from the old gas station and she wasn't sure if words would be said. What had happened was intense, and she wasn't even sure if they all knew exactly what had happened. She would have to tell them. After they sort through what had happened with Simon.

'The monster,' Jeanette had thought to herself. She shook her head quickly, reassuring herself that there was no monster inside of Simon. Something must have happened, even though she couldn't see it herself. Maybe she missed something? Or maybe they were still a threat to her siblings and friends? Maybe she had blanked out? There was so much going on. Or maybe… 'Maybe it was the monster'.

They all walked through the old door and filed into the room. They had apparently taken their helmets off at some point during the walk up stairs. Alvin was sweaty, and had a bloody lip and probably some other injuries that Jeanette just couldn't see. Brittany's hair was a mess and she had a bruised hand. Once again, probably other injuries. Jeanette looked as well at Eleanor and Theodore. They were also looking a little beaten up. But they all were obviously shaken up. She figured she probably looked the same way; wide eyes, breathing deeply, and deep in thought.

Simon was still wearing his helmet, walking in behind everyone. His head was down, watching his feet, as he continued to walk on by everyone else and go into a different room in the back of the building. Jeanette watched him as she embraced her sisters, asking if they were okay, and listening to their replies.

Jeanette shivered a little, seeing as how she had been sitting in an abandoned building for a few hours now in the middle of winter. She was cold and numb, even with the heavy winter coat that she was wearing. But she was a little too focused on the people in front of her to pay her own discomfort much mind. It did take her a minute to gather her thoughts and go and get the medical kit to start work on helping.

The entire room was silent. The only sound that any of them muttered was the occasional answer to a question that Jeanette had asked as she went from person to person. She went through her sisters and was starting on Theodore when Alvin moved away from the window he was looking out of and moving closer to Brittany.

"You okay?" he asked in a calm voice. It seemed like he wasn't going to try to start anything with her sister tonight.

"Yea. Just a few bruises. You?" Brittany had answered in the same tone.

Alvin nodded his head and then went to Eleanor and then to Theodore, asking them the same thing. He was performing his duty as their leader. Once everyone had relied to him, Jeanette turned around and stood up. She smiled at him timidly. "I'm fine. Pack up, guys. We're done for tonight."

"But what about…"Eleanor started in. Jeanette could see Eleanor give a concerned glance to Brittany. Brittany shared the look. Alvin turned from them and, over his shoulder, told them to just go home before walking to where Simon would be. The two girls gave each other one last look before starting on their task of just going home. Theodore had gotten up and followed Alvin, leaving the three alone in the big, empty room.

As the girls were shouldering the weight of their clothes and helmets, they turned to leave the building. Down the stairs is where Brittany had decided she had enough of the silence. "What the hell was that?" She looked over at Eleanor.

"I have no idea. I can't understand it."

"He went completely overboard. I feel sorry for those guys, and we were fighting against them!"

"Me too. Couldn't he see that they were well past finished fighting with him?"

"Apparently not. I'm telling you, the guy is a nut-case. Jeanette, this is why we don't want you around him, okay? Not alone."

Jeanette had followed her sisters in silence as they walked down the street in the direction of their home. She looked up at her sisters, considering all that had happened with them that night. Then she began to think of everything that she had found out about Simon. 'He's a monster.' The thought kept repeating in her head, over and over again, and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop it from repeating itself.

"Jeanette, answer me."

He was so kind when she first met him. He spoke softly, politely, and carefully. He was so smart and so imaginative. He was strong, as well. 'A monster'. Stubborn, but strong. He was in so much pain, but he cared about everyone he was close to, and he made sure to stand with them. She was positive that he would do anything for his brothers. 'He really is a monster'. Those two were his entire world. He seemed to care about the girls, and trying to keep them away from the boys and this life. One attempt after another, he kept on trying and trying to keep them away. 'A monster likes to hide.' He was in pain from the ghost of his past, and it was that he fought with every day. He was hurting in the same way that Theodore and Alvin were hurting. 'He is the cause of their continuous pain. A monster keeps a hold on you. A monster drags you down.'

'He is a monster. Once he lets go, there is no stopping himself from enacting horrible things on his victim. He was meticulous in his attack after his opponents were defeated. He didn't stop even after they were a bloody mess. He tried to hit Alvin, once Alvin tried to step in. He couldn't see who was there and who wasn't. All he could see was red, and he was calm in his actions. He tortured those people. That was what he did tonight. He tortured. A monster tortures.'

Jeanette nodded her head, tears building up in her eyes. She looked from sister to sister, unable to voice her agreement. She didn't want to agree. But she had to. There was too much against him, and with each passing day and the closer she got to him, the more she had to think that his confession was true. And as long as the girls were fighting alongside the boys, they had to be near him. She swallowed hard, fighting back her tears, before opening her mouth. "Should we stay fighting alongside them?"

"I'm not going to leave Theodore," Eleanor said automatically. Eleanor had her eyes set in determination.

"There is no way that I'm going to leave all the fighting to them. But, when Simon goes off like that again, we do not go near him, understand?"

The girls nodded their heads. "At least nothing else went wrong tonight," Eleanor sighed as the girls continued their trek home. Jeanette stopped after thinking about something that had slipped her mind. Her sisters had stopped after seeing Jeanette stop, and turned to face her.

"Something else _did_ happen. The one who blew the signal? That person was a target. I tried to tell you guys, but I guess I needed to speak up louder."

The two other girls looked at Jeanette in amazement. They thought back. They were sure that there was a victim. Jeanette had pointed the victim out to Simon. And Jeanette had tried to tell something to everyone, but no one had heard her. Maybe Jeanette pointed out the victim to make sure that no one went after him?

Brittany sighed and turned on her heel. "Great. The whistles are now our enemy."

**This chapter is dedicated to the two baby ducks that were killed today on the road. Poor little ducklings. And I have now hit over a hundred pages on the word processor. And I am on fire right now and want to keep this going, even though I'm cold. Until next time, which will be rather shortly.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I didn't comment on the deep, darkness that's really descending down on Simon and Jeanette. And I won't comment on it now. I will say that I thank you all for the reviews and comments and for sticking up with this. Thanks much, like always. Now onwards!**

The group didn't meet with each other the next day. Eleanor and Theodore had talked with each other on the phone and arranged it that they would all take a day off. The decision, normally one that would have angered both Brittany and Alvin, was actually accepted pretty easily, and it was probably because of the headlines in the newspapers and on the news.

Brittany hadn't moved from the couch for the entire morning after she heard the news. She had planned on going to the store to get more concealer for the bruises that Eleanor and she had, to try and hide them from interested people and their guardian, but that plan flew out the window. And every half an hour, she was reminded of the events of the night before.

'For those of you just joining us, the top story for this morning is a great fight that happened last night between the Vigilante and a local gang at the old gas station on the corner of…'

"Brittany, I'm going to make some lunch. Do you want anything?" Eleanor asked, entering into the room, eyeing the television. Brittany shook her head and continued to listen to the news.

'The victim told our reporter on the scene that the Vigilante was signaled by one of the attackers with a whistle and the victim was nearly attacked himself. The police responded to the scuffle after receiving reports of a gun shot in the vicinity. After responding, the majority of the members of the gang have been arrested and are facing criminal charges. The police would like to remind the community that the Vigilantes are wanted as well, and, due to an increase in anger at the actions of the Vigilante for assaulting a victim, any information leading to their arrest will receive a reward of five hundred dollars. The police and the victim have reported nothing further on the incident. We will keep following this story as it develops.'

Brittany finally moved herself to turn off the television, but she stayed on the sofa, just staring blankly at the screen. Eleanor was still in the doorframe, also lost in her own thoughts. The girls had just gotten started with their career as vigilantes and now, the career was even more dangerous than before. The community was growing angry with the boys and their actions, especially after they all nearly attacked an innocent person.

"How could we know?" Eleanor asked to herself, but loud enough for Brittany to hear. "Only the innocent people have been using the whistles. So how could we know it was any different this time?"

"It makes sense. We were worried that the whistles were going to be abused. It looks like the criminals on the streets are finally getting smart about it." Brittany stood up and sighed, shaking her head as she walked dejectedly to the kitchen. Her stomach was rumbling and she had to eat something. Eleanor followed her sadly. "What did Theodore have to say about Simon?"

It was a big concern for Brittany. She had heard nothing about what the boys did with their crazy brother and she was still not sure that Jeanette was going to listen to her about trying to stay away from him. Although Jeanette had seemed to agree with her sisters, Brittany was able to see it in her eyes. She also was able to read the signs very well. Jeanette was in love with that boy, and love makes you do incredibly stupid things. Brittany shuddered as she remembered one of her past boyfriends. Yea, love makes you do really, incredibly stupid things. It also makes you very blind.

Eleanor opened the refrigerator, digging a few things out to make some lunch. "He didn't say anything about it and I didn't really ask. I kind of, you know, mentioned it a little bit. But I didn't full out ask him to tell me or anything like that. But he seemed out of spirits today."

Brittany gave a tired laugh. "We're all out of it, today. Jeanette won't even leave her room."

"Yea, and you're not wearing any make-up," Eleanor pointed out. Brittany scowled.

"I'm not leaving this house, so why should I wear any? Call me when lunch is done. I'm going to my room," Brittany marched away quickly and up the stairs. There was nothing else to say that day, and the girls remained quiet and away from each other for the remainder of it.

The next morning, though, the girls had to pull themselves together. It was the first day of school after their break and they had to appear as normal as they always would. Brittany had woken up early, not really sleeping very well the night before, and got ready for school. While in the bathroom, she heard her sisters getting up and ready. She sighed to herself as she applied her eyeliner. The first thing she was going to do today was catch up on what she missed throughout the two weeks they had off. Then, she had to talk with Alvin.

As the girls walked through the doors, having been dropped off by Ms. Miller, they all said their goodbyes and went off into their separate directions. Brittany went straight ahead, wanting to stop by her locker first. She smiled and waved to friends as she walked by, feeling a little excited about being able to cut loose and have a worry-free time with them as the day progressed. She had been so caught up in the vigilante thing that she forgot she had friends, although they did text her a lot over break.

Her locker was fairly close to the front doors, so it didn't take long for her to get there. She put in the combination a little slowly, not sure whether she remembered it right or not, before swinging the door open and pulling out a few books that she would need for her first two classes. "Hey, pretty thang," a voice smoothed out behind her. Brittany glanced over her shoulder, taking her attention away from the mirror on her locker wall.

Looking at her with a charming smile was a boy about the same height as she was. He had deep brown eyes, narrow nose and a dimpled chin. His brown hair had frosted tips and was feathered out with volume. He was wearing tight black jeans, a very tight black shirt that showed off his pectoral muscles, and a black leather jacket over it. Around his neck was a silver chain and a diamond earring was in his left earlobe. "Hi, Darren. Nice earring," Brittany smiled back, holding her books to her chest, and closing her locker door. She leaned up against the cool metal.

Darren turned his head to give Brittany a better look at it with a proud smile. "I know. So, what have you been up to? I haven't seen or heard from you at all over break. I thought that we were going to do something." He tried to look at her with sad eyes.

Brittany rolled her eyes playfully before remembering why that idea had sunk. Darren had been more than pushy a little while ago and she was still angry with him because of that. But he was still the hottest guy in school right now, or at least, one of the hottest. It wouldn't look good for her to outright call him out for being a pig. She gave him a flirty glance and put her finger on his chest. "You have fingers. I'm just a text message away. Besides," she took back her finger, trying to suppress a shudder of disgust from touching him, "you know me. My schedule is pretty full."

"I would think that I would be worth it," he pulled out the sad tone.

"Let me level with you, big boy. I know you have your eyes on some other girls. I'm not dating you, so I'm not mad about that. But if other girls are after you, don't you think that other boys are after me?" She flipped her pony tail over her shoulder and smiled at him. She was kind of trying to get him just to go away.

He gave a small smile, moving his eyes from hers, down her body and then back up to her face. "I guess I forgot that detail. Hey, listen. I heard that you are looking for those vigilante dudes."

Brittany looked up at him in surprise. She wasn't sure if she had heard right, and then she wasn't sure how he would even know that. But it was really obvious why he had decided to come over and talk with her now. But she didn't really want to jump right to the idea. She had to reply to get more out of him, first. "I _was_, but I gave up on that. Who cares?"

Darren stepped in a little closer to her. "Well, you know there's a reward out for them, right? Do you have any clues or leads or anything like that?" Brittany eyed him closely. He seemed to pick up on her suspicion and looked away and down the hallway. "I mean, they may have helped out a bit, but now…they are just dangerous. And I could really use the money, y'know?"

That was a little interesting and Brittany had to stop and think about it. He used the word 'they'. He called them 'vigilantes'. She controlled her face, looking curiously into his, but on the inside she was freaking out. He knew that they were a group, and not just one person. She looked him up and down. Brittany knew the guy was actually from a pretty well-off family. It was amazing that he didn't actually go to the private school in the city. At least, that's what she heard from a good source. So that money comment must have been bull. Brittany continued to look, but she couldn't see anything to show her any information.

"Hey there. Missed me?" A voice said behind her. She turned her head around to see Alvin's smiling face. He moved forward and put his arm around her shoulder. Brittany scoffed and pulled his arm off of her and gave him an annoyed look.

"I was talking to someone, Alvin," she turned her attention back to Darren. "If I find out anything, I'll let you know, okay?" Brittany smiled and gave Darren a wink. He smiled and nodded, glancing up at Alvin before he turned to walk down the hall. Brittany had lost her smile once Darren was out of sight.

"What was that about?" Alvin muttered, catching on to Brittany's attitude. She looked up at him to see him looking back at her with his trouble-making smirk. His voice didn't match his face very well. He moved in more closely to her, creating more of a flirty atmosphere.

"What are you doing, Alvin?" Brittany said, backing up from him.

He moved in a little more and wrapped one arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him. "Acting like I'm supposed to in school. So you can either do one of two things right now. You can push me away and insult me, like you normally would, or you could accept my offer and date me."

At first, she really wasn't sure she heard right. It was never an idea that crossed her mind, not that she really had the time to think of the two of them like that. They were now out hunting with each other, and when she did think of anything in regards to romance with Alvin, it left her with a pounding headache. And she wasn't sure what was going through his mind about her in that way.

He moved in a little closer while she was thinking, keeping his gaze on her. "If you don't decide soon, I'm going to choose for you. We're already getting looks."

That got her attention as she looked up and around her. Some of the students were looking at them, whispering about how close they were. It had spread very quickly that the two mostly fought with each other during the day. Then, after a break from school, they come back all close, as if they are dating. Brittany put a hand on his chest and gave him a slow push away. She looked at him darkly. "What are you playing at, Seville?"

"Just thinking in your benefit, Miller. You won't have time for dates anymore. That's going to seem a little weird that you went from dating everyone to dating no one. Why not have a fake boyfriend to explain it all away."

"And what would that do for you?"

Alvin clicked his tongue and shook his head at her. She was a little offended with him, seeing that. She thought he was thinking she was stupid. "I get the girls off my case about dates with them. I'm a taken man, so I can't date anyone else. Especially if I'm dating Brittany Miller, the girl who would claw my face off if I ever did cheat on her. It's a win-win."

She had to admit it. That made sense. It would be weird that she, all of a sudden, stopped seeing boys. And Alvin had always tried to make up some excuse to turn down some girl or another. It was looking a little weird on his part. But if they school thought they were dating, then their reputations were still in good standing. Brittany really thought she should agree to this. Yet, there was something that was bothering her. She nodded to herself, and then moved in closer to Alvin, wrapping her free arm around his neck. He smiled and looked down at her, moving his hands around her waist.

"You've got a deal," she murmured, pulling off an affectionate voice for the people around her. She gave him her best eyes and he returned them. "But I'm going to have to cheat on you at least once."

He blinked in surprise, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at her and then leaning in closer. "And what do you mean by that? Girls don't cheat on me, Miller."

Brittany laughed and began to play with his hair behind his neck playfully. She began to speak very quietly, putting up the charade for the students around them. "Darren is acting a little funny. I'm going to have to get closer to him. He's indicating that he's going to turn the Vigilante in for the reward. But he let something slip. He knows that 'he' is a 'they'."

Alvin nodded, keeping his smile on his face, but bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. "Really?" he voiced out softly. "Well, maybe it would be a good idea to send out a little bee to buzz around his head for a little while."

"Alvin," Brittany moved in a little closer, pulling his head down so she could speak a little softer to him. "I really hate that name. And on another note, since I am now your girl and you _have_ to listen to me, we need to talk about your," Brittany decided to be a little bit daring with the crowd around her, and traced his lips with her finger, "brother."

He took his hand that had caressed her cheek and held her hand, lacing their fingers together. Brittany had to ignore the tingle that she had received from the action and keep her mind focused on the matters at hand. "At lunch. Meet me in the quad."

"But its cold out there, Alvie."

Alvin instantly pulled his head back and gave her a very interesting look. "Don't call me that," he deadpanned. Brittany looked surprise before giving him a wicked smile. She had been telling him for months not to call her 'Britt' and after that telling him she hated her alias. Now she had something on him in the same regard.

She leaned in again, pulling him back down and moving her lips to his ear. "Mmhmm, don't like it, do you? We have a date." Brittany pulled away from him a little, Alvin looking away from her and then giving her a little glare. She just smiled back at him and moved further away. But he wouldn't let go of her hand. She looked at their entwined fingers and then at him.

"Walk you to class?" Alvin asked before pulling Brittany along with him down the hall, the pair paying attention to the whispers that were directed at them. They needed to come up with a quick story as to how this happened between them just to quell curiosity.

Page Break

Jeanette gathered her books and then made her way to her second period classroom. So far, she had done excellent in school. She had decided to pay attention to only the lockers on the wall she was walking next to, instead of observing everything. And, already, she hadn't really tripped! But now, she was starting to feel a little uneasy. She had class with Simon next. She hadn't seen him since they all went hunting and he went a little overboard. She had no idea what Simon would say or do in this class, but she knew that she wanted to see him. And she could, since she wouldn't technically be alone with him.

Just as she finished reasoning away the possibly guilt she would feel for talking with Simon without her sisters present, she found herself outside of the door to the classroom. She took a deep breath and adjusted her bag before she walked in. She looked to see the desks that they usually sat at were both empty. She sighed, realizing that if they were going to sit next to each other, it would be in Simon's hands. He might not want to sit next to her. She moved into the room, glancing around to see who was there.

She stopped, seeing Simon sitting in the back of the classroom with a book open on his desk. He was leaning over it, very engrossed in it. Her heart sank. Simon was going to sit away from her. In the back of her mind, a little voice was telling her it was a good thing that he was distancing himself from her, but her heart ached from it. Even if he went…well, crazy, during their hunt, it didn't mean that he would do so in school. He valued it too much to do anything of the sort. And maybe a little friendship would help him feel better? She nodded. She would give it a try.

Jeanette walked slowly over to her friend, keeping her eyes on him. When she reached him, he remained still over his book. But his eyes weren't moving. He was either aware of her standing there, or he was just deep in thought. She cleared her throat before calling his name. He jumped and looked up at her wide-eyed. It was the latter.

"What are you doing sitting back here?" She asked quietly, indicating the seat with her hand. Simon just looked away from her and shrugged his shoulders. He remained quiet. "Don't you want to sit closer to the board? You can see it better up there."

When it became obvious to Simon that he just couldn't ignore her, he decided to reply. But he didn't look at her. "I just thought that you wouldn't…" Simon had muttered it out and finished his sentence, but too quietly for Jeanette to hear. But she heard enough to know where his mind was at. He was worried about his actions and her own reaction to it.

"I don't mind if you sit next to me, Simon. But if you don't want to, then I won't force you." He looked up at her a little surprised, and she just gave him a shy smile. Her heart was beating from the adrenaline of speaking with him, looking into his unique eyes and falling into an argument with herself about her choice. Brittany and Eleanor would definitely prefer it if she just let Simon stay away from her.

"Well…"Simon had started, clearing his own throat and looking around uncomfortably. "If you're sure that you don't…ah, mind. Then I guess I…um, will…join you." He looked at her with a straight face, his eyes questioning her. She gave him a nod and an encouraging smile. He nodded back with his own smile and stood up, gathering his things. The two moved to their normal seats, but they didn't speak.

Jeanette wanted to say something to him, but when she looked over at him just before class started, he seemed to be miles away. She wished that he would say something to her. Jeanette had heard Simon open up to her before, and she was certain that he would do that again with just a little encouragement from her. But she was never good with forcing anyone, and any real conversation about their activities after school was not a choice topic during school, or even in public. Also, there was the little matter about what the cops were trying to do which they had to keep quiet about. Yet, there was no other explanation she could think of for his actions. He gave her the answer already.

_Monster_.

Another page break

"Can you hand me the milk?" Eleanor asked, moving the wooden spoon briskly through the mix in the bowl. She looked over at Theodore, who was just staring blankly ahead of him at the clock on the stove in their home economics room. Her arm stopped moving as quickly as she just looked at him. "Theodore?" She called out.

"Huh!?" he turned to face her, with eyes wide.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Um, can you hand me the milk? I'm ready for it now."

"Oh, yea! Here you go," Theodore handed a measuring cup with the proper amount of milk in it to Eleanor. Eleanor smiled as she took it from him and she gently began to fold it into the mix. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Theodore had resumed his previous face, just looking down at the mixing bowl. He was really lost and had been since she ran into him earlier that day.

He had been acting like his cheery self when they were out in the hallways or around other people. But when it was really just the two of them, he would sink into silence and thought. He was worried about his brother, and that was very clear. And he was probably devastated about hearing that they responded to an abused whistle. She knew that Alvin was pretty angry about it, when she ran into him and Brittany at lunch. They had talked about it briefly and quietly with each other, Eleanor ignoring how Brittany and Alvin were pretty much all over each other, even while arguing. She shook her head. She would ask Brittany about it later.

"Are you okay, Theodore?" Eleanor ventured. She had to get him to stay focused and she needed to see if she could get him to smile.

Theodore sighed as he took another ingredient and added it to the mix. "I'm fine. Sorry, I'm not too fun today."

"Oh no! Don't worry about it. We've all been through a lot in the last few days. None of us are really all that in the mood for fun. So I wouldn't worry about it. I'm just worried about you. That's all."

Theodore looked at her and she looked back into his eyes. He nodded and looked down again, fiddling with the pages of the cookbook they were using. "Simon won't talk to us about what happened. He hasn't said anything, really. Alvin ended up just standing there, screaming at him, and he still didn't say anything. We used to tell each other everything. I don't know what's changed."

So the issue of that night is still unresolved for the boys. No one understands anything about the reason that Simon did what he did, and that had Theodore worried. Eleanor had prevented herself from thinking about it before, but now, the thoughts were creeping into her mind. Theodore lived in the house with Simon. Simon had nearly went after Alvin that night, and that meant that even Theodore wasn't safe from his glasses-wearing brother.

"It must have to do with what broke in Simon," Theodore whispered out, flicking a crumb off the counter. "I told you that something broke in all of us. That has to be it. Something is, I don't know, affecting his broken part and he's having trouble with it. But he won't say a thing. How can we help him if he won't say anything?"

"He's not ready. And until he is, there isn't anything you can do. People need to admit they have a problem and be willing to accept help before they can actually _be_ helped. I'm sorry, Theodore. But he's not going to let you help him until he wants it. But if you ever need anything. I'm here for you. Okay?"

Theodore had listened to Eleanor, and by the time she finished, he didn't look like he felt any better. She could see him thinking about what she had said, however. It was the hard reality. No one would be able to help the guy if he didn't want it himself. Until then, they had to be careful with him.

The girl looked around her to see if anyone was noticing them. Once she was sure that they were in the shadow of anonymity, she reached out and took his hand in hers. She gave him a smile, squeezing his hand lovingly. He was such a great guy, probably the strongest of the three and the most caring, and she really hated seeing him so down.

He seemed to have responded to her gesture of affection. He gave her a small smile, lighting up his eyes just a little bit. Then, hesitantly, he leaned down a little. She just stood there, thinking that he would just move his hand to give her one of his hugs that nearly everyone got, but she was shortly proved wrong. Theodore moved in quickly and gave her a peck on her lips before backing away. "I hope that was okay?" he asked, uncertain and nervous.

It was so quick that she really had barely felt it. But he had given her a kiss. She touched her lips, and then looked back up at Theodore. She smiled. "You beat me to it." Theodore gave a little nervous chuckle, squeezing her hand back. The two turned back to their work.

Eleanor was still a little worried, though. The last thing she wanted to see was Theodore in jail, and with everyone searching for the Vigilante and with the stuff that the boys were now dealing with when it came to Simon…things were going to get a lot worse before they got much better.

**A lot happened in this, didn't it? Ah well. It all seemed to flow for me. A little AxB, not so much SxJ, and a good dose of TxE. I just love it. **


	21. Chapter 21

**And I just keep on moving, as quick as I can, so that the story isn't rushed but can be completed before I leave. I'm kind of amazed how different this is becoming from the initial idea I had. I still have the same destination, the climb has just changed…and for the better too. And that's thanks to those who have reviewed! Seriously! And tomorrow is my last full day to write what I need to do to finish this. As I have said previously, I don't think I'm going to make the deadline. But I'm going to try. Onwards!**

In a word? Dirty. That was how Brittany felt after spending an entire afternoon after school flirting and getting close with Darren Watkins. The things that they did with each other were things that she had done previously with him, simply making out a little bit and talking very suggestively, but now that she was doing it for a reason other than high school reasons, she felt dirty. She was using him to get the information she needed that she knew he had, but in the end, it was worthless. He was closed lip about going any further into detail than what he had done previously. She didn't buy it.

She walked out of the condo that he lived in with his parents, quickly adjusting her clothing back into its proper place before checking herself in her compact mirror. She rounded the corner and onto the side walk, barely looking up from her reflection. Carefully, she wiped the smear of her lipstick from her skin below her lip with her thumb.

"I would think you would want to do that before running into your boyfriend," she heard a familiar voice. Brittany looked up from her mirror to see that Alvin was leaning against a streetlight just a few feet away from her, watching as she came up to him. Brittany rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here? If Darren sees you, he's going to know something is up."

"Why?" Alvin pushed off from the streetlamp and fell into step next to her as they walked down the street.

"Do you know how long it took me to convince him that I wasn't playing him? He heard about us 'dating'." Brittany had enough common sense to put air quotes around the last word. But she was growing annoyed. Alvin had put on a very irritating smile at the word and gave her a look.

"Anything, then?"

Brittany sighed. "No. But I know he's hiding something. He's a threat, I'm sure of it. I just don't know how."

Alvin nodded solemnly, losing his smile and keeping a straight face. The two walked on down the street together in silence for a time. Brittany glanced up at Alvin. She had very quickly taken a position in their little group of authority, talking with Alvin about ways to keep them all safe. It had essentially started the day that they had agreed to fake date each other, which had Eleanor very confused.

The conversation that they ended up having about Simon was one in which Alvin showed himself to be extremely worried and frustrated. Simon had told him nothing and Theodore had no idea what was going on with the nerd as well. It was decided that they all had to keep an eye on him, in case something else would happen. But that had to take a back seat for the time being. Brittany was really growing suspicious of Darren, and she had no real reason to be. It was simply woman's intuition.

"You can get wrinkles if you frown too much," Alvin commented suddenly.

Brittany looked at him, her face relaxing from what it had been. She didn't even know she was frowning that hard as she thought. But apparently, she was, and Alvin just had to make fun of her about it. She just stuck out her tongue at him. "Very mature," Alvin chuckled.

"That coming from you? Now that's a laugh."

"I am very mature."

"And who told you that?"

"No one. I just know," Alvin smiled to himself. Brittany rolled her eyes. The two still argued a lot, but Brittany had to realize that Alvin wasn't getting as angry as he used to, or as in to the argument. She would have thought about this more, but the answer just stuck right out at her. Alvin was trying to not be so angry anymore.

"So what's the plan?" Brittany asked, turning her face to him. She didn't want to think about anything else about Alvin.

"We're going hunting tonight."

"All of us?"

"Yea." Brittany refused to comment, but she was really worried about going out with Simon again. It wasn't certain how he would act. In her opinion, it might be a little better if Simon just stayed home for a while. "He might have just been angry about the gun, Brittany. We've had a run in before, and you know how that went. Simon dug it out of me, so me and him, we have issues with guns. And we might have an easy night." Alvin had somehow realized exactly what her problem was.

The girl shook her head and rolled her eyes. He might have just been making an excuse for his brother. "You're the boss," she muttered out.

"Trust me. Not all nights are that bad. I'm more concerned about the whistles."

"We just need to make sure Jeanette okay's the fight first."

"And dodge those cops."

"Right." Brittany had forgotten about the cops. They always had to run from them, but now that the community was less than happy with the Vigilante, it was more important now than ever that they avoided the police. It was just too dangerous, and if they were caught…she shuddered to think of how jail would be. But she could do a lot before that could happen.

"Is everyone clear on that?" Alvin asked the room, waiting for everyone to reply. It was kind of weird to see the boys standing in their outfits in the Miller living room. The only thing missing were their helmets. But the girls had told the boys that they would set up home base there, since Ms. Miller was pulling an all night shift at the diner she worked at, and that was mainly because the girls wanted Jeanette to be in a warmer location. "Um, yea guys, you have to give me some sort of answer."

"Yes." Theodore looked up, smiling.

"Uh huh!" Eleanor agreed, sitting next to Theodore on the sofa.

"We can't be clearer on this. We need to Jeanette to okay every fight. We don't go in until she says so," Brittany was standing next to Alvin, looking down at everyone. Eleanor rolled her eyes and said that she understood, probably remembering that it was usually Alvin and Brittany to charge right in without looking at the situation. Theodore just repeated himself. Alvin and Brittany looked at each other happily. Then Alvin looked at the corner behind him to see his other brother leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, just staring at the floor.

"Simon, did you hear?" There was silence. Brittany watched as Alvin approached Simon, waving his hand in front of the guys face. Simon blinked and moved his head back and then up. "Did you hear anything that we talked about?" Alvin demanded.

"Yes, I heard you Alvin."

"Then what did I say?"

"You are sounding a lot like Dave."

Alvin huffed at his brother. "Just answer me."

"Jeanette will give us the okay."

Alvin nodded and gave the signal for the team to get to their positions. The five placed their helmets on their heads and turned on their cameras and radios. Jeanette counted off, making sure that each and every camera and radio was on before she would allow the team to head out on to the street. Once that was taken care of, the team left the house through the back door and walked out to the alley.

They hadn't been out for very long when they heard a whistle sound. Captain directed Brittany to lead the way and she made her way through a side yard and then on to a nearby street. She didn't have to really think about where that sound came from. She knew. And she was excited to finally be able to get her revenge on those who had originally taken the fire out of her. It was to that old abandoned warehouse. She had hopes, as well, that maybe they could get those guys finally arrested as well.

The ended up behind some trash cans across the street from the place, just looking at the boarded up entrance. The whistle blower was someone that they all had never seen before, but they waited a moment for Angel to give the fight her blessing. Brittany was itching to move, though. She recognized one of those guys, and the fire in her had increased drastically in a very short amount of time. Pay back was going to be very sweet. But then she had to stop. One of them looked very familiar to her.

'It's clear. Go ahead,' Angel's voice rang in her ear. Brittany nodded and followed Captain over the trashcans and straight into the fight. She took a quick glance to see Kicks right behind her. Doc and Cook-y had moved around to the sides, still trying to keep their numbers unknown to their assailants. But just as they were about come into conflict with their first targets, something unexpected happened.

The targets and the victim turned around and pointed their fingers at the three, shouting, "Get them!" Numerous members of the gang filtered out of the building quickly. It was probably every gang member that hung out there, all standing and ready to take down the Vigilante.

'Shit!' Captain cried out.

'It's was a damn trap,' Kicks muttered out. Brittany looked behind her to see their exit slowly disappearing with the some of the other gang members circling around them. They must have past right by some of them without even realizing it. How could something like this happen? Even Angel didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

'You guys have to get out of there!'

The first punch was thrown from the opposite side against Captain. 'Too late, Angel. Push through guys! Make a way out!'

'We're moving in!' Cook-y's voice rang out. It seemed as if Doc and Cook-y weren't surrounded themselves, but they needed to get everyone out of there, and as well as they could. This would be a fight in which the team could automatically know they couldn't win, and Brittany had to face facts. There was no way that the Vigilante could go against a group like this. But she really couldn't think about it. She had to get her sisters out of this. She had to fight. They had to make it out of this trap.

If the last fight was confusing for anyone to realize what was going on, this fight was much worse. There were so many people and they all were horribly surrounded. She could catch glimpses of her team mates falling down, scrambling back up, and being tripped, and taking hits. But she really couldn't catch many glimpses, as she was having the same trouble.

She turned after placing a hit on someone that had come near her. Brittany was now just swinging wildly, trying to hit anyone near her just to keep them away. She then felt two hands lift her up and hold her from behind. She struggled against the arms, trying to position herself in a way that she could hit him. And the moves that she had tried with Alvin when he attempted to restrain her didn't work. He wasn't actually trying to restrain her, then. Not like these guys.

A fist came and hit her in her stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. Noise became muffled and she couldn't move her arms well. Her captors dropped her to the ground to move on to the next. But then, she felt a hand reach down and pull her up forcefully. She coughed, trying to hit whoever did so, but her hand hit plastic as she moved it quickly. She looked to see Captain standing with his back to her, facing forward. He turned his head and spoke out in his synthesized voice. "Cover my back." She turned around.

'Angel!? Angel, why won't you answer me? Angel, get your ass in gear and just answer me, damn it!' Captain's voice echoed in Brittany's ear as he attempted to get ahold of her sister. It seemed like Captain had been trying to get ahold of her for a while now. Brittany and Captain moved in sync as he attempted the contact, both able to focus on the front of them instead of the back. But they were still overwhelmed.

A familiar sound began to rise about the noise of the screaming. Brittany had thought at first that this sound was terrifying, but at this point in time, she was relieved to hear it. Those police sirens would keep them alive. After a few moments, there was running. The gang was dispersing. They had heard the sirens and were running from the cops. Brittany looked around her to see where it was coming from. The cops were coming from their right, and they were coming close.

She felt a hand reach down and take a hold of hers, pulling her to the left quickly. She followed Captain as he led her, but then they had to stop. A police cruiser was coming from that direction as well. Quickly, Brittany pulled Alvin to try to go back across the street. But all the other suspects were moving in that direction, and they would see Kicks and Cook-y moving towards them from that way.

"This way!" Captain shouted, heading to the alley that the girls had once known as something to be fears. The four of them ran directly into that alley. Captain climbed the fence at the end of it and sat on top of it, reaching down. Brittany jumped up, suddenly feeling two sets of hands pushing her from below, while Captain's hands pulled her up and then lowered her rather quickly to the other side. She looked back through the fence to see Cook-y launch Eleanor up to Captain, and then Cook-y took a little bit of a head start before climbing up over the wall himself. Captain jumped down and they all resumed their escape.

'Angel, what's the status on Doc?' Captain's voice entered into the picture as he signaled for Brittany to lead the way. They had to get back to home base and they needed to do it quick.

'He turned off his camera. I have been trying to call him, but he won't answer. You haven't heard me say that?'

'Shit!' Captain cursed, stopping in his tracks and turning around to try and see if his brother had somehow followed them. Brittany was sure all that he heard were more sirens. She went over to Captain and pulled on his hand.

"We need to keep moving. I'm sure he's fine," Brittany assured through her synthesizer to Captain and to Cook-y. She then spoke into the radio. "Angel, keep trying. He's gotta reply at some point. We're going to take the long way home, so just focus on him. And Doc, if you can hear this, then you better answer."

There was silence after they had all agreed and slowly but surely, Brittany led the team back to her own house. When they had gotten there, they found Jeanette going through an individual communication line, trying to contact Doc. Brittany glanced at the screen and could see that Angel was right. Doc's camera was off. She looked to see Alvin tearing off his clothing, trying to appear as his normal self. He began to call out to everyone that they were to stay there. He was going to go search for his brother. "And why did you answer me!?" Alvin turned to Jeanette, pulling a clean shirt on.

"I'm sorry, Alvin. I went out to the street corner to the old pay phone. It was still working, so I made an anonymous phone call."

"You called the cops!" Brittany whirled on her sister. Jeanette seemed to shrink back from her, a little scared. But then Brittany had to think about it. Yes, they were in danger of being discovered, but their lives were worth more than that. Jeanette made a good move. Brittany went over and gave her sister a huge, now becoming aware of just how injured she was. Brittany looked over her shoulder. They all looked very bad.

Then, over the neighborhood, a frightening sound echoed into the night. The team stood there, looking at each other. "That was a gun shot," Alvin said darkly. Fear had taken a hold on the group.


	22. Chapter 22

**DAWN OF THE FINAL DAY**

**Seriously, I just keep on thinking in Legend of Zelda terms. Oh well. So that fight didn't quite go well. Theodore is really worried, Alvin is kind of panicking, the girls are really concerned, and Simon got separated. I wonder how this is going to turn out. Just kidding. I already know. Onwards!**

Alvin and Theodore had both left the house, set and determined to find their missing brother. Jeanette stayed on the laptop, her headset still on, calling out to their missing team mate over and over again. It was decided that the girls would stay in case Simon came back. And if that was the case, then they could call back Alvin and Theodore. But either way, there would be some contact with the boys by the end of the night, whether they found him or not. Everyone needed to be on the same page.

Brittany had just taken a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothing. She walked down the stairs and into the living room, eyeing her sisters and listening to Jeanette. From the girls' pleads, it was very apparent that there had been no change in the situation since she left the room. Eleanor was sitting on the couch, facing the front window and looking out on to the street.

Eleanor was really beaten up. Her bare arms were covered in fresh bruises and she had a few scraps and cuts. It was nearly the same that Brittany had seen on her when she got undressed to take her shower. She had to stop and look at herself in the mirror at all the colors her skin was showing. For an instant, she couldn't even recognize herself, but she had to think about what she was seeing. They really had trouble that night.

"Take a shower, Eleanor," Brittany spoke, taking a seat next to her sister, looking blankly at the computer screen over Jeanette's shoulder. The tall girl was sitting at the coffee table on the floor in front of the couch. She didn't seem to have noticed Brittany. Eleanor sighed in response. "That's an order," Brittany put finality in her voice. That caused Eleanor to move.

In just a few weeks, the girls went from arguing with each other about sister things to acting like soldiers. Brittany commanded her troops and they were quick to obey. It probably had something to do with the way that the boys ran around, each putting in their own input, but never arguing with Alvin's choices. Alvin was their leader, and Brittany commanded the girls. Yet, when the two groups were together, Alvin had somehow taken control of the entire thing.

"Doc! Where are you?" Jeanette spoke up excitedly. Brittany jerked her head to the screen, still seeing that there had been no change in it. But Jeanette had spoken clearly, and seemed to be listening very hard to her headset. "Repeat. I couldn't hear you." Brittany knelt down next to her sister and pulled one of the earpieces away, putting it as close to her ear as she could. Her actions startled Jeanette, but Jeanette continued with her job.

'Where…rest? I have…search…team…ile now. Is…kay?' Doc's voice came through the headset with a lot of static and missing words.

"You're breaking up. And your camera is offline. Come back to base." Jeanette was frantic, stuttering out her words as quick as she could. It was amazing that Brittany would even understand what her sister had said.

'…gel? A…? I didn't…that. Angel?'

Brittany rolled her eyes. There was something wrong with the connection somewhere and it seemed like the line went down again between home base and Doc's radio. Brittany pulled the headset off Jeanette's head and put it on after listening to Jeanette call out to Doc in a way that made it clear that they both couldn't hear each other.

"Doc, this is Queen Bee. Come back, right now. Stop what you're doing and come back." Brittany repeated her order a few more times in case Doc was having the same problem as the girls with the static and disconnection. Brittany pulled the headset off and went to her phone, searching for Alvin's phone number. She connected to it.

After a few rings, Alvin answered. "Status?" He asked seriously.

"We made contact with him, but it didn't last long. I told him to come back here."

"Where is he?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "We don't know, Alvin. The connection sucked. But he's alive, at least."

"Did he sound hurt?"

"No, he didn't."

She could practically feel the relief coming in from the other end of the line. She heard him sigh and then tell her that they were returning back to them. Brittany nodded, but then told Alvin that they were waiting before hanging up the phone. She stared at it for a moment. When she and Alvin were hunting, they didn't seem to argue so much when something serious was happening. She shrugged off the thought. They had other things to worry about.

Jeanette was looking up at Brittany with worried eyes. "Keep repeating over the line for him to come back until you know he's returning. We don't need them running around the neighborhood, with or without the helmets." Jeanette nodded, placed the headset over her ears, and continued. Brittany was about to turn around and walk away to do something to occupy her time, when she noticed what was on the back of the big speakers of the headset. The headsets were decorated with purple wings. Brittany scoffed quietly, knowing that Simon had done that, but was content with thinking that Jeanette, the most observant of them all, probably hadn't noticed.

After about half an hour, Alvin and Theodore knocked on the door to the Miller house and walked in expectantly, hoping to see their brother already in the house. But Simon was still not present and Jeanette was still at the computer, trying to make contact. The only change that had happened was that every once in a while, the camera for Doc's helmet would glitch or show the occasional image, before going black again.

Brittany and Alvin sat on the couch, bitterly arguing with each other quietly, each not ready to discuss what had happened for that night. Eleanor just sat next to Theodore, patting his arm. Theodore was very worried still, and he was making it apparent. Everyonce in a while, with some new noise or sentence from Jeanette, Theodore would perk up but then be put down in disappointment. Alvin had even tried Simon's cell phone, but they could all hear the ring from the duffle bag that Simon had in the corner of the Miller's living room.

Finally, around two o'clock in the morning, just as Alvin was about to go out and look for his brother again, there was a knock on the backdoor. Brittany got up to go and answer it, but Alvin pushed past her. She snapped at him and followed him through the kitchen and to the back door. Roughly, the leader pulled it open and the two looked angrily at the tall teen on their back steps, wearing his helmet still.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Alvin screamed, dragging his brother into the house and slamming the door closed. Brittany crossed her arms over her chest and stood back, reading Alvin's already heated temper and preparing for the two boys to enter into the screaming match that they would probably have. A noise from behind her caused her to glance over her shoulder at Theodore and Eleanor who was peeking in. Jeanette was just behind them, looking relieved. Brittany pointed at them and signaled for them all to go back to where they came from. "Don't have all night, Si."

The boy was unstrapping his helmet and pulling it off his head. He was as white as a ghost and his eyes were wide and manic. "Alvin," he began, taking a deep breath and blinking his eyes, looking down at the floor. He was absentmindedly fidgeting with his helmet. Brittany glanced down to see that he didn't have that great of a hold on it. It kept on slipping a little. She looked closer. His gloves had something on them, as well as his jacket. His jeans had dark, red spots on them.

"What did you do?" Brittany stepped forward, speaking as quietly as she could and in her most menacing voice. She was looking straight at him, seeing his nervousness and his shock. He kept his eyes averted from her and from Alvin. Alvin had looked at her in surprise, but then began to notice the same things that Brittany had seen. But Simon wouldn't reply.

"Brittany, tell them all to pack it up," Brittany looked over to Alvin when he said her name. He was keeping his eyes on his brother and keeping his face stern, betraying no thoughts. "Simon, don't you dare move from that spot. I'll go get your glasses." Simon nodded.

Brittany stood her ground and just looked at Alvin angrily when he turned to her. He could instantly see her opposition and he grabbed her arm and walked with her out of the kitchen. Once they were in the living room, Brittany pulled her arm out of his grip and turned on him angrily. "He did something out there tonight. And you're just going to let it be!?" she whispered harshly.

"For now." Alvin put in his choice.

"Are you crazy!? First he goes missing and his entire video feed and communication system goes down. Then he comes back and he's covered in _blood_. He's drenched in it, Alvin." There were gasps from those around them as they continued their argument. The others had heard Brittany fiercely whispering. She always knew she didn't speak too softly, but now wasn't the time to deal with it. She turned her head over her shoulder and told the others to start to pack it up. "He's white as a sheet, too. From what happened last time, I guarantee that he did something, and he's dragging us into it."

"He's not going to speak around you, Brittany. So let me deal with it at home."

"Lot of good that will do. You said it yourself he didn't tell you anything about what happened last time."

Alvin shook his head and sighed, reaching for the duffle bag and shoving some of the computer equipment into it. "Drop it, Brittany. I don't harp on you about your treatment of your sisters. So just stay out of the way I deal with my brothers."

Her eyes went wide in disbelief and she blinked, looking around, wearing an angry smile on her face. "My _sisters_ aren't _insane_, Alvin. And I swear it, if you don't put a stop to it, I will." She walked up to him and yanked his arm, causing him to face her. They were both far from playing with each other. "I'm _scared_ of him, Alvin. And I'm not the only one." Brittany pointed in the direction of her sisters. "If you want to be the leader, fine. Step up to the plate and actually do something about that _problem_," she pointed towards the kitchen.

"Goodnight, Brittany," Alvin spat out after a moment, dragging Simon's duffle bag and his own bag through to the kitchen. In his hand, he held Simon's glasses. Theodore quietly followed, peering over his shoulder at the girls and wishing them a quiet farewell. Brittany just glared at them and continued glaring well after she heard the kitchen door slam shut.

Page break

"Can you believe what this world is coming to?" Ms. Miller bustled into the kitchen, talking to her girls who were sitting around the table, eating their breakfast before they had to go to school. Ms. Miller had just gotten home from work and was making herself something to eat before seeing her girls off to school and then going to bed.

Jeanette quickly swallowed the cereal she had in her mouth and looked at their guardian. "What are you referring to?" she asked politely. Ms. Miller backed out of the refrigerator with the fixings for a sandwich. She set them down on the counter and then looked directly at her three daughters. All three were looking back at her, waiting.

"Dear lord, there was a police shooting last night," Ms. Miller fanned herself, looking up at the ceiling. "That Vigilante was out last night causing all sorts of problems, in our very neighborhood. The police went to stop the fight that this guy started. And then, the Vigilante shot one of those dear men."

The girls looked at each other and then at Ms. Miller with wide eyes. They had stopped moving completely, spoons and other foods stopped midway to their mouths. Jeanette was the first to unfreeze, lowering her toast and looking at the table sadly. They all were definitely out of the area and back at home base last night before they heard the sound. Only one of them was missing.

_He's a monster._

"Is the cop okay?" Eleanor asked quickly, pulling Ms. Miller's attention away from her sandwich.

"I heard he's in the hospital right now in ICU. I hope the poor man pulls through. I know him, and he's a good man. Has three little cubs of his own, all really young."

Brittany had finally gained Jeanette's attention. She was looking at her with straight eyes, but Brittany raised her eyebrow. Jeanette could understand what Brittany was trying to say. She had to avoid Simon and not be alone around him. They all knew that Simon had blood on him last night, and that Simon was very shaken up. But he really wouldn't shoot a cop, would he?

_He tried to hurt Alvin._

"Look at the time, girls! Go on and have a great day,' Ms. Miller began to bustle her girls out of the house.

All the way to school and while she was in school, Jeanette was deep in thought, wrestling with herself. Her mind kept on telling her that she had really misjudge the boy. She had confused her common sense with her heart. With her reasoning, Simon was becoming exactly what Brittany had always thought he was—a threat. But her heart kept pulling Jeanette back to siding with the poor boy. There had to have been a reason for it. Or another part of the story. The fact that he was shaken up could point her to thinking that something else had to have been a part of it. Perhaps he needed to defend himself from the officer.

By the time that chemistry rolled around, Jeanette was confused and in dread. She didn't know what she would say to Simon, let alone how she would act around him. She didn't want to think that Simon was capable of what he was now accused of, but she had to face the cold, hard truth. Witnesses had seen him do it. They claimed that the Vigilante had a clear shot at the officer and that he fired off a gun. As she entered the classroom and took her seat, she glanced at the board and then moaned. It read the name of a substitute.

The chair next to her moved and she looked up to see Simon sitting down, not looking in her direction. Jeanette forced a smile and a small greeting and she watched as he kept his head down, just shifting his eyes in response. "We have a substitute teacher today."

Simon glanced up at the board and then nodded. He cleared his throat. "We've been having a lot of those, recently." She nodded her head. Silence descended on them and Jeanette moved in her chair, looking at her hands that were folded in her lap. What would she give to have everything just go back to what they were? She really missed hearing him talk to her and she really missed his crooked smile that perfectly matched his careless hair. But now, it didn't really seem like they would ever be the same. And he was just pushing everyone away from him.

_A monster likes to stay hidden_.

She shook her head and then looked at him. She had to try. If she had learned anything during the first half of the year, it was that sometimes you need to assert yourself. Sometimes, you had to fight for what you cherish. Jeanette had to fight to keep Simon, even if that meant fighting with him. But she was getting ahead of herself. Just because she was going to try and converse with him, it didn't mean that he would avoid it himself. Maybe he just needed a little encouragement, like when he tried to sit away from her.

"You had us worried, Simon. Are you okay?" she spoke quietly and cautiously, trying to watch his face as well as he would allow her. It was going to be important that she observed and read his emotions, or what he would let slip.

He twitched a little, but looked at her and nodded with a weak smile before turning his face back to a book that he pulled out. That wasn't his smile, and Jeanette blinked, a little disappointed. "What do you think happened with the camera?" She wasn't going to give up.

Simon looked up in thought, before looking back down. "I had a blow to my head. It probably knocked a few things loose. I'll have to adjust it later." He spoke almost mechanically and he really didn't want to look her in the eye.

They fell into silence again. But he was replying to her and she took that as a good sign to try and continue conversing with him. She needed to be careful, though. The other students were starting to file into the classroom and take their seat. The substitute had also arrived and was busy texting on her phone at the teachers' desk.

"I didn't see anything that would have caused that." Jeanette pressed on.

He snapped his head at her and glared. She was a little taken back, not knowing how to respond to a look that she had never received from him before. Mentally, Jeanette cursed herself for not paying attention to his subtle actions. Simon was becoming uncomfortable with speaking with her, and she was able to look back and understand that.

"What are you trying to do?" he spoke quietly and harshly, not letting his glare leave his face. "I've been fighting with everyone recently. The last thing I want to do is start a fight with you."

She immediately began to backtrack, unable to keep up the level of confrontation that he brought out against her. "I wasn't trying to start a fight," she stuttered out, looking at anything other than him. "I am just trying to figure out what happened."

"I think there are plenty of others trying to do the exact same thing. So you can rest easy," he turned his face back down to his book.

"Who are you fighting with?" Since he brought it up and was already angry, she decided to just continue. It wasn't like he was just going to give her that smile now.

"Who am I _not_ fighting with? I got an earful from Alvin last night, I heard most of what _your sister_ said, and I also have my damn self that I am constantly going against. Now I have you."

_A monster brings others down_.

She was feeling pretty bad, feeling the sting from his words and his looks. She had to stop herself from wanting to hurt him in return. It wasn't very nice of her to do that and he was hurting enough. That she was sure of. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The water was starting to gather to cloud her vision again. "We just want to help you, Simon."

"I don't need any damn help!" he yelled out, slamming his hand on his desk. The room went silent and all the voices stopped, looking over at the two in the front corner of the classroom. Simon spat out an obscenity under his breath and turned away from her. Slowly but surely, the rest of the class resumed their goofing off, but a little unsure of what had caused the normally quiet boy to erupt. "I can't be helped, and I told you that before," he started again, quietly. "I can't just let go of it, because it is me. I am two things, and the more that people want to help me, the more that other thing is going to come out. So the more people try to 'help' me, the more of that monster will come, burying whatever is left of the human inside me in a trench to just rot and die."

She was wide eyed, hearing him talk about himself in such a way. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch him and give him a hug. Jeanette wanted to do anything to make it better for him. But she pulled it back, afraid that a touch would cause him to lose himself. "You're wrong. You have so much good in you, I can see it. But your perception is skewed. You don't know…"

"And you know me?" he interrupted her, turning his dead eyes on her. "You don't know a thing about me. Do you honestly think that just because I told you one thing about me once that you get it? You don't. There is no way that you could ever know and there is no way that you could ever understand. But you want to know what I have just discovered about you? You have not once denied that I was what I am during this whole thing." Simon gathered his things and stood up. He looked back down at her before leaning in. "You can't say that I am not a monster anymore, now do you?" He walked to the substitute teacher and asked her to allow him to go to the nurse. He then left the classroom.

A few of the other students, for the remainder of the class, had ventured a few times to make sure that Jeanette was okay. She just smiled and resumed reading her book, although she wasn't really reading it. She didn't say anything that she had said during their first talk about the monster. She had vehemently denied that he was one, but she really couldn't deny that there wasn't one in him anymore. He had shown enough of it recently. And the police officer…

When the bell sounded and Jeanette moved into the hallway, she was distracted by her thoughts. They completely consumed her, and she just allowed her feet to take her where she needed to go. She had never seen him like that. She wasn't even too sure that her brothers had seen him like that. But he had an outburst. And her plan backfired.

All she wanted to do was find a way to heal what had been hurt in him. She was trying to watch him, listen to him, and understand what she could in as guarded a way that she could. But he had seen right through her and very quickly. He quickly put all attempts out of the question and had beaten her back very effectively. Jeanette wasn't even too sure that she could face him again. And she had revealed her doubts about him, even if she didn't know it. Jeanette fought hard to keep the tears at bay. All that she wanted was a smile. That was all that she really wanted. A crooked smirk.

She turned a corner and found herself bumping into a student. "What the fuck!?" the voice cried out. Jeanette looked up and quickly apologized to the large boy that was now wearing the soda that he was drinking. She apologized to him again. "And you think that fixes it?"

"Well, I don't really know…"

He gave her a look and then moved in closer to her, scowling at her. "You're going to pay for that," he growled.

"I don't really have any money right now." Jeanette stuttered out, looking down at her clothes.

"That is an expensive drink, bitch."

"If you would let me, I can bring you some tomorrow." Jeanette really wasn't in the mood to fight with anyone and she didn't want to start any type of physical altercation here at school.

"I'm thirsty now." The boy had backed Jeanette up against the lockers.

"Hey, hey, hey!" another voice rang out. Jeanette turned to the voice to see Theodore coming over with a smile on his face, getting in between Jeanette and the boy. "What's going on here, Bobby?" He asked the guy with the biggest smile on his face.

The boy named Bobby rolled his eyes. "The bitch was just going to pay be back for the drink she spilled all over me. Apparently, she needs help remembering where her money is."

"What's the use of crying over spilt soda, right Bobby? And I know her, she doesn't have a lot of money. Why don't we all just hug it out?"

Bobby seemed to turn away and Theodore smiled quickly at Jeanette. Jeanette returned it happily. She needed to remember how Theodore handled the bully for the next time she ran into one. Suddenly, Bobby turned back around and pushed Theodore hard. Theodore fell back into Jeanette and she could feel her body being pinched against the lockers behind her.

She looked over Theodore's shoulder to see Bobby taking a few steps back and tensing. She had enough experience to know that the attack wasn't over, and she could feel Theodore tensing as well. But then something big hit Bobby and he turned his face fiercely to see who had thrown a backpack at him. Jeanette and Theodore followed with their eyes.

"My bad," Simon mumbled out, walking over politely and picking up his bag. "Guess I don't know my own strength." He shrugged and looked at Bobby. They were about the same height. Bobby grimaced and growled out, eyeing Simon angrily. Jeanette couldn't see his face, but she was sure that Simon was looking at the man with now expression. The way that Simon did carry himself, though, made Jeanette shudder and grow concerned. Theodore must have sensed it too, as he began to try and calm the situation down.

"Oh, you're that fag that everyone is telling me about. Didn't know you had the hots for me."

"As I have previously said, I simply didn't know my own strength. My bad." Simon spoke out the last two words very slowly, putting a pause in between them. He just kept his eye contact on Bobby.

Bobby suddenly swung his arm around, aiming for Simon's face. Simon moved to the side, took hold of Bobby's arm, and used the inertia to ram Bobby's hand into the lockers just a few feet away from Jeanette and Theodore. Bobby screamed out in pain, pulling his mangled hand out from the dent that was made. Simon walked to Bobby's side and kicked his knee cap. Bobby fell to his knees with another cry.

Theodore began to call for Simon to stop. Simon didn't seem to have heard him. The tall boy bent down and gave Bobby a quick jab to the throat and then ramming Bobby's head back and to the ground. Bobby moaned and Simon stood up. Jeanette could see that her crush was probably not done yet and she looked around to see the crowd of students just staring at them with shocked expressions. Theodore was the only one trying to call out to Simon, but he wasn't moving away from Jeanette.

"Qu'est-ce qui se passe ici?" the French teacher asked, pushing through the students and to the two in the center. Simon must have finally taken a hold of himself, and he looked back over his shoulder at the teacher. Then the school resource officer came and Simon willingly went off with him. The French teacher waited with Bobby until the nurse came while another teacher made the students leave the hallway and get to class.

Theodore and Jeanette just looked at each other and then at Bobby before they walked away with each other. They had no words to say.

_He's a monster._

**Wow, that boy is looooosing it! Oh, and a school resource officer is a cop that hangs out in schools. Mine had two of them. Yea, there were a lot of fights in my high school. And that French teacher? He was asking "What's going on here?" The French teacher at my high school actually broke up a fight that way. Everyone stopped after hearing her, looking at her with faces that said "Wha…?" It was too funny. So I had to put it in here, at least for my own amusement. Well, next chapter!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Time for things to go just a little bit further, right? Also, I was searching for a fanfiction that I haven't read yet and in a couple of my searches, I came across this story as the first one. I was wicked disappointed. I wanted to read someone else's work! Man, I am so sorry. Haha**

"Darren, we're in school, you know," Brittany playfully pushed him away, but trying to keep him at flirting distance.

"Afraid that he'll see us?" he reached over and pulled Brittany to him, nuzzling his face into her neck. "I thought you two weren't dating."

"We are, but we're not," Brittany giggled a little, pulling his head away from her neck and placing her hand on his lips to keep them away. "It's not official yet."

"What, like, facebook official?" Darren pulled her hand away and then leaned in to place another kiss on her lips. She had to move her head away to keep it short or else he would try to make that kiss deeper. "C'mon, let's move to a place a little more private," he whispered into her ear, moving his hands a little lower down her hips than what she really wanted.

Brittany looked around her quickly. The hallway wasn't very crowded, but there were definitely people here. If she followed him, then a lot more would be happening than what she ever wanted from him. Seriously, he just didn't understand what 'no' meant. She glanced up at him from under her eyelashes. She had to remember what she was doing this for. But Brittany didn't want to go that far.

She smiled suggestively and she watched as he returned it. She roped her arms slowly, making sure to give him plenty of contact with her palms and fingers, around his neck and she slowly brought his face down to hers. "How about next week?" she whispered into his lips.

"How about now?" he moved his hands a little lower.

"I didn't know you were into that sort of thing."

Darren looked at her in confusion before he pulled his face back with wide eyes. Brittany smiled to herself at her lie. She had to try and not laugh to herself as she watch him backtrack and agree that they should probably wait for a different time. He then began to make some sort of excuse for something and started to walk away. But then he turned back to her and pulled something out of his pocket, handing it to her. "Just wanted to let you know that you're my favorite diamond."

She took the trinket from him and gushed about how sweet he was. He kissed her and then walked away down the hallway. Brittany lost her smile and turned to head the other direction, tossing whatever it was that Darren thought would be good to give her in a nearby trashcan. "You know, he wanted you to have that."

Brittany rolled her eyes and turned to her left, seeing Alvin leaning in the doorway of an unused room. He was smirking at her. "Didn't you hear him? I'm his favorite diamond. I wonder how many others he has up his sleeve." Alvin moved out from his hiding spot and stood in front of Brittany.

"Careful, Miller. You're sounding a little jealous."

"Me, jealous!? As if," she turned to continue her walk down the hallway. "I really hate those types of guys. Just because they think they are a little bit handsome, they think they can use girls like sex tools."

"What did you find out?" Brittany sighed and looked away from Alvin, clenching her fists. Darren hadn't brought up the Vigilante and he didn't even bring up anything that she could use to start the topic. "So he's not asking anymore."

"All I'm getting out of him is an attempt into my pants."

"Nice pants," Alvin leaned back and looked at Brittany's bare legs and her skirt that were just above her knees. Brittany gave him an annoyed look. Alvin looked away and put his arm around her. She had gotten used to his public displays, but she was angry that he did them so often. "Just tell him something about the Vigilante. He thinks you don't know anything right now. That is, if you are sure that he's up to something."

"He's up to something, alright. I can feel it."

"That's something else of his."

"You're just having a field day with this!"

"Not at all, Britt."

"Don't call me that!"

"Everyone else does."

"Those are people that I like, _Alvie_."

"Don't call me that, Miller!"

"Then stop with your stupid nicknames, Seville!"

The two were stopped in the middle of the hallway, just staring at each other. The discussion had quickly escalated into an all-out argument between them. The other students didn't watch so much, since the majority of the school population had gotten used to the two having verbal arguments with each other.

"There you are!" Brittany turned her head to see Eleanor racing towards them. The look on Eleanor's face instantly made Brittany concerned. She walked forward, ignoring Alvin, and studied Eleanor's face as Eleanor looked Brittany in the eye. Then Eleanor looked over at Alvin.

"What happened?" Brittany asked. She watched as Eleanor looked at Brittany in confusion, but then shaking her head and deciding that whatever had her confused wasn't important.

"Simon got suspended."

"What!?" Alvin roared, his eyes going wide and moving in closer to Eleanor. The short girl had covered her ears from his scream and then looked up at him. Brittany had nearly exclaimed as well, but Alvin had beat her to it. And he was getting interesting looks, now.

Eleanor put down her hands and then looked at the two of them. "I can't believe you don't know. Jeanette was getting picked on a little bit and Simon just came out of nowhere and beat the crap out of the guy."

"More information, Ellie," Brittany insisted.

Eleanor stood there and explained all that she had heard from Theodore about what had happened. By the time she had finished, Brittany's opinion was set in stone. Simon had overreacted to the entire thing. It was one thing to stand up to a bully, but the guy didn't deserve what Simon did to him. Simon was a crazy guy, and something had to be done. She turned and looked at Alvin.

Alvin's face was unreadable. He merely stood there, looking at the floor, clenching and unclenching his jaw. If Brittany was in his position, she knew full well what she would have done. She would have put a stop to this long ago, making Simon go to a doctor or a loony-bin. It didn't matter if he was her brother. She would do it. But Alvin was having a hard time with doing that, apparently. And now, the Vigilante was out for attempted murder and Simon had lead them to that.

"Alvin," Brittany spoke up darkly.

"One more time, Brittany. Let me talk with him once more. After that, I'll take steps."

"Are you just as insane as he is!? This effects all of us, Alvin. Not just you and Theodore."

"Fine," Alvin put up his hand and moved to walk away. "Meet us at the base tonight. We'll finish this." Alvin turned to ask Eleanor where Theodore was and left as soon as she told him.

Eleanor and Brittany turned to look at each other. After some silence, Brittany spoke, "if he doesn't do something, we will." Eleanor nodded her head and the two began to walk down the hall. Lunch was almost over.

Page breakity-break

The girls climbed the stairs slowly. They all knew what this was for, although they didn't know exactly what was going to happen or what was going to be said. Brittany looked at Jeanette. She was appearing small and refusing to look up. The girl had been depressed since Brittany had found her after Simon got suspended. The eldest Miller shook her head and set her eyes forward.

They opened the door and walked into the room. The boys were already there, Brittany immediately picking out Simon messing around with his helmet and computer. All three boys were silent, and Alvin and Theodore only looked up at the girls as they entered. Brittany eyed Alvin and jerked her head towards Simon while keeping her eye contact with Alvin. Theodore had caught on, and looked between his brothers frantically.

Alvin stood up from leaning against the wall and walked over to his brother. "What are you doing?" Alvin asked quietly.

Simon's hands stopped moving, but he didn't look up. "My camera and radio malfunctioned. I need to fix them."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't want to go into it anymore, Alvin." Simon was speaking calmly, refusing to go into the conversation.

"We're going to go into it. We're going so far into it that we're going to come out the other side of it. How did that happen, Simon?"

Simon huffed and moved the helmet off of his lap and threw the tools that he had out into the duffle bag that he had near him. He put his hands up to his face, palms touching, before pulling them away slightly and speaking. "Can we just get to work?"

"We are. I'm looking to fix something."

Simon started and then stood up, leaning over his brother in agitation. The girls jumped at the sudden movement, Brittany growing more and more concerned for Alvin. "And just what does that mean?" Simon growled out, glaring.

"There is a squeaky wheel, Si. And I have to fix it. What happened to your helmet? Did you turn off the camera yourself?"

"Of course not," Simon scoffed moving away. Then he turned around and looked at everyone in the room. "But you all don't believe that, do you."

Alvin put up his hands, trying to be the big brother. Trying to be the steady one. The one that Simon usually was. But Si couldn't be that right now. Alvin had to be. "I believe you, Simon. What happened?"

Simon moved down and threw his helmet into Alvin's arms. Alvin caught it and he examined the helmet, finding a dent in the back of it by the decal. Alvin nodded and showed the rest of the team the hit with a smile on his face. Things were starting to move and they were moving in Simon's favor.

"Alright. Simon, what about the cop?"

"What about the cop?"

"You need to tell us what happened, Simon."

"Nothing happened," Simon snatched his helmet away from Alvin and threw it in the duffle bag as well. He could feel the eyes on him and he turned to glare at each and every one of them. But the only one to shy away was Jeanette.

"Bullshit. Did you shoot that cop, Simon?"

"Really?" Simon turned around and gave Alvin a confused look. Alvin lost his gentle manner and walked up to his brother. Both were face to face in a matter of moments, having their own private, voiceless conversation with each other. But they weren't getting through to each other this time.

And Brittany could feel it. Alvin was trying to believe his brother. He was trying to give him some more wiggle room, yet his patience was running thin. The others in the group were keeping Alvin from turning a blind eye to Simon anymore. Alvin had to face his brother and the actions that his brother had done. And Simon was getting angrier by the moment, being forced in front of everyone to speak about the things that he had avoided. He was really becoming agitated with the entire thing. She could see it.

"Did you do it?" Alvin was speaking harshly, staring up into Simon's eyes, using a tone of voice that everyone could understand as one not to be disobeyed.

"I can't believe that you're asking me that," Simon dodged the question.

"Answer me, Simon."

"You're really going to go through with this?"

"Did you?"

Simon sighed, and shook his head in utter disbelief. The rest just looked on, all wearing blank expressions and waiting for Simon to answer.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time. Did you shoot that cop!?"

"No, I didn't!"

Alvin and Simon both looked at each other in the eye. Each one was trying to understand the other, but for the second time that the girls had seen it, their silent conversation wasn't working. Simon's face was completely unreadable and was instead angry and frustrated. Alvin's was the same, only there was nothing to indicate his mood. "You don't believe me, do you?" Simon put in quietly.

"You've given us plenty of reason to…"

"You really don't believe me!? You're my brother!" Simon had nearly screamed. It was probably the first time that Brittany had heard him do that outside of their fights. He was always rather level in his tone. Looking at the whole thing, she would have sworn that the two brothers had reversed their roles.

Alvin sighed, looking down and away from his brother as his brother muttered out his own disbelief in the way that Alvin was acting. Brittany watched Alvin's eyes moving back and forth quickly. Alvin was making a choice. He looked up at Simon. "Take a few days off, Simon."

"What!?"

"This is a direct order. You need to take some time to sort yourself out. You're losing it. The girls are scared of you," Simon raised his shocked eyes to the girls, seeing them all serious and unwilling to oppose Alvin, "and Theo and I are scared for you. Until I say so, you will not be hunting. Turn in your helmet and hand me your key to the supplies."

"Alvin," Simon looked at his brother. Brittany could see the heartbreak in his eyes, but she wouldn't allow herself to fall prey to it. "You need me. Don't do this."

"Hand your key over, Simon."

"I'm okay, Alvin. You need me out there with you. Please." Simon was pleading, staring at Alvin's outstretched hand. Brittany had no idea what key Alvin was referring to, and she glanced at her sisters. Eleanor was serious, looking intently at the two boys. Jeanette was looking down at the floor.

"No, Simon, you need us. You won't let us help you and you won't talk with us. You're a liability with the way you are now, and if you did shoot that cop…"

"I didn't do it!"

"If you did shoot that cop, then you really need to lay low. Hand it over." Simon put his head in his hands and crouched down to the floor, shaking his head back and forth, almost rocking himself. He kept on repeating 'don't do this' over and over again, not making eye contact with anyone. Alvin crouched down in front of him. "I _will_ take it from you, Si. Don't make me do _that_. Give me the key."

With visibly shaking hands, Simon took out a key ring from his jacket and slowly disconnected a small, gold key from it. He stared at it, very upset and very thoughtful, before he placed it roughly into Alvin's hand. Alvin clenched his hand into a fist, hiding the small item. With his other, he patted his brother on the shoulder and whispered words of encouragement to him. Alvin then stood up and looked over at Theodore before looking at the floor again. He sighed.

"We'll see you at home, Si. Let's go," Alvin marched away from his brother and past everyone. The team began to shuffle out of the room behind Alvin. Brittany, before exiting, glanced over her shoulder. Simon had moved and was completely sitting on the floor, his legs tucked up against his body, and his hands were covering his eyes. His glasses were right next to him, off his face. If Brittany didn't think any differently, then she would have thought he was crying.

Out on the street, the team had ventured a few blocks away, heading to a diner that was just around the next corner. Alvin had halfheartedly mentioned that they would all need to talk about what they were going to do next. But before they had reached their destination, Alvin turned around quickly, startling Brittany. She watched him curiously as he walked back past Theodore and Eleanor and herself, stopping right in front of Jeanette.

Jeanette looked up at him from staring at the sidewalk, her eyes glossy. Brittany felt a twinge of sadness. This was starting to become a very common look for her dear sister, and always because of that one stupid boy. "What do you know?" Alvin asked the girl in a calm tone, but the same one that he had started to use with Simon.

Jeanette shifted her weight from one foot to the other, blinking back the tears in her eyes, and looking at Alvin in a confused manner. She looked away from him at the street. "Well, I know a lot of things," she muttered out.

"Don't dodge the question. I want to know exactly what you know and I want to know right now."

"What…what makes you think that I know anything?"

"You're close to him. Probably closer than me and Theo right now. So tell me exactly what you know."

Jeanette shook her head a little and grabbed her arm with her hand, not looking at Alvin at all. She kicked the ground with her foot and bit her lip. "I don't think I'm that close with him."

Alvin shook his head and stepped in closer to her. "You set him off in school, just like I'm sure that gun set him off when he went berserk. And you're lying right now."

"I promised I wouldn't say anything. Especially to you or Theodore." That got Alvin's attention. His eyes went wide and Brittany could not believe that Alvin was right. Or that Jeanette had intentionally hid information that would put them all in danger. Alvin leaned in closer.

"I don't know what you're thinking. Don't you see him cracking up? I need to know so that I can help him. At least tell me something—anything!—so that I can do just that. What is going on with him?"

Jeanette had looked up at Alvin quickly before lowering her gaze again. She bit her lip again. Theodore moved closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, asking her sadly to just say something. Jeanette closed her eyes, tears falling from them, and lifted her head up to take a deep breath. "He thinks he's a monster." All that was left was the silence of the city.

**Jeanette just won't stop telling people secrets about Simon. And now that she alluded to it, you know what Alvin's gonna do. It was a little weird, though, writing Alvin in the way that Simon would act, and making Simon act the way that Alvin would. But Alvin would be forced to be more in control of the situation, right? And Simon is just flying off the rocker. So I guess it makes sense. Maybe. Maybe not. I dunno. I still have some time for another chapter. Let's see what I can do.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Last Time, on "The Vigilante"…**

** '**_**He's up to something, alright. I can feel it.' **_

_** 'Simon got suspended!'**_

_** 'If he doesn't do something, we will.'**_

_** 'There is a squeaky wheel, Si. And I have to fix it.'**_

_** 'Did you shoot that cop!?'**_

_** 'You don't believe me, do you?'**_

_** 'I want to know exactly what you know, and I want to know right now.'**_

_** 'He thinks he's a monster.'**_

**Okay, I had to do that. I was recapping a little to myself and it sounded like one of those reviews on a soap opera. So I had to do it. But I really shouldn't kid around right now. I can maybe nail out one or two more chapters, including this one. And If I get to the second one, then I can really put in a great AxB. But unfortunately, I can't finish this story for right now. So onwards.**

The five teenagers walked into the diner. Alvin had commanded that Eleanor and Theodore go to a separate table and come over when they were called. Theodore had protested, wanting to know exactly what Jeanette knew about Simon, but Alvin told Theodore to do as he was told and that he would be filled in about it later. With shuffling feet and an irritated heart, Theodore did so. Brittany, Jeanette, and Alvin went to sit at a booth a little ways away.

Jeanette looked over her shoulder to see Eleanor and Theodore. It looked like Eleanor had cheered Theodore up and the two assumed the image of a dating couple. It was a really happy idea, but Jeanette had to frown. She was far from that at the moment, and she wasn't even sure if she ever could be that with Simon. Bobby had brought up the rare rumor that Simon was gay. Still, anywhere was better than here, right now.

She directed her eyes back to the two sitting across the booth from her. She had two pairs of serious blue eyes looking at her. One was desperate to help his brother. The other was angry with her for keeping a very important secret. But she felt like an informant in those old spy movies, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, a spotlight in her face, trying to survive a barrage of questions and scare tactics. She looked up again at the eyes. She wondered how long she could last against those two.

Alvin leaned on to his elbows over the table, keeping his gaze steady with hers. Yup, she was in for the fight of her life to keep her promise to Simon. But in her mind, she had to tell herself that she needed to give out the information. She had to answer their questions. It was important, especially after seeing Simon break down as he had when they had left him. But she would be betraying him and his trust.

"Tell me everything." Alvin voiced, pulling Jeanette from her own mind. "Whatever he ever told you, I need you to tell me."

Jeanette looked down at the hands in her lap. She still hadn't decided what she would do. It was either betray her friend, or hope that he would help himself. But by betraying him, she could make things a whole lot worse, causing him to push everyone further and further away. Just waiting for him to help himself, though, didn't seem like the best idea, either. He was unraveling.

"Jeanette," Brittany's stern voice reached her ears. The girl flinched and pushed her glasses up her nose. "You are the only one that he talked to."

"He only talked to me a while ago about this," Jeanette put in.

"Still, that is more than what Alvin and Theodore got. We need to know. Don't you get it? _We_ are wanted for attempted murder, Jeanette. That falls on all of us, not just him. We need to know what exactly has happened and where his mind is at."

"And since he won't talk with us, we have to go through you. I'm not blind. He doesn't talk to anyone else at school. Just you. The last time I saw him smile was when he was with you. And now you tell us that he thinks he's a monster, but you won't say anymore. Let me know where his head is at."

Jeanette looked up at the two and then back at her hands. "I know," she mumbled out.

"Then what is the problem!?" Brittany demanded.

The girl sighed. "I am his only friend. At least, I was. I'm not sure about that anymore."

Alvin and Brittany stared at Jeanette. This was obviously news to them, since the two seemed to be getting along just fine. Jeanette hadn't mentioned the fight that they had earlier that day before Simon got suspended. The poor girl just didn't know where she stood anymore.

"Okay, let's back up," Alvin mumbled, looking at Brittany quickly before leaning in towards Jeanette. "What do you mean you two aren't friends anymore?"

"We had a fight today." Jeanette could tell them that, at least. It wasn't anything that was too secretive, and the entire class knew about it already.

"About?" Brittany urged on. Jeanette just looked up at her sister meekly before putting her eyes back down. She wished that they would just let her decide what she was going to do. She really needed to make up her mind about whether to do what was right, which was tell what was on Simon's mind, or what was wrong, which was keeping Simon's trust. She really didn't want to break that trust again. "Seriously, Jeanette?"

"It's about that thing that I said earlier. And I don't want to lose him as a friend."

"Well, I'm this close," Alvin put his thumb and index finger close together, right in front of Jeanette's face, "to losing him as a brother. And I'm not talking figuratively. I'm worried he's going to die, Jeanette. He might be out there against my orders, getting into a fight and then going straight to the morgue. Who knows, he might be suicidal, Jeanette. I have no idea. I don't have a damn clue. But I know who does."

Her eyes went wide. She didn't think that far ahead, and she thought herself completely stupid for not thinking of it herself. That was a great possibility for him. Either of them. And both would lead him away from her forever. There would be no tomorrow to try and get him to smile, because he wouldn't be there. And when she looked up into Alvin's eyes, she could see his worry and his concern over his little brother. Brittany didn't really seem to care, but Jeanette knew that Brittany was against Simon from the start.

Jeanette nodded her head at Alvin. She made her choice. "Today, I was trying to get him to talk with me. It didn't matter about what, but I just wanted to hear him. So I asked him a couple of questions and it just escalated."

Alvin nodded his head. "What questions?" Brittany turned to look at Jeanette from the corner of her eye, her head in her hand. Jeanette was confessing to going near Simon, even though they weren't technically alone. Also, this conversation was really going to make Brittany hate Simon, but maybe it could help Brittany see who Simon really was.

_A monster._

Jeanette pushed the thought from her mind. "Just basic little things, at first. Then I asked about the camera and audio difficulties."

"And?"

"He told me what he told you. But then I said something stupid. I didn't see any type of hit coming to him. So I didn't really believe the story…"Jeanette dropped off at the end of the sentence. She took a deep breath and continued. "He blew up at me after that. He said I didn't know anything about him and that I was trying to start a fight with him. Then he mentioned the monster and stormed off. He doesn't want to be near me anymore." Jeanette was about ready to cry again. Brittany pushed Alvin out of the booth and moved to the other side of the table to hug Jeanette. Jeanette at least knew when Brittany was trying to be nice to her, even though she hated her friend.

"Okay. So why do you think he doesn't want to be near you?"

Jeanette stuttered out her answer, trying hard to keep in her tears. "Because I changed my mind about him." A tear fell. She wiped it away. It hurt so bad to know that the man she still loved didn't even want to be near her anymore. And it hurt just as much to know that she couldn't trust him.

"You think he's a monster." Brittany spoke her word as a comment, not a question.

Jeanette nodded her head, and took in a deep breath again. "But I know he's not! My mind keep on telling me that he is, but I just know that he isn't. He can't be."

"He picked up on your doubt," Alvin mumbled bitterly. He knew that he should have stepped in earlier. But his brother always had things under control. This had never happened before. So why would it happen now? Alvin looked up at Jeanette's crying face and as Brittany comforted her. He needed to know how this monster came to be. Then he could probably slay it. "Why does he think he's a monster?"

Jeanette looked over at Brittany and then at Alvin. She shut her eyes tightly and then opened them again. "It started when…um…," she looked over her shoulder towards Theodore and Eleanor. Alvin looked over at the pair, laughing at some joke, and then back at Jeanette. It was a time dealing with Theodore. But Theodore didn't really do anything. In fact, he did mostly nothing. At least, Alvin was sure about that. It wasn't until recently that Alvin was able to stop focusing on his anger and…

Alvin's eyes went wide and he looked over at Theodore and then at Jeanette. He understood what she was trying to get at. He swallowed and leaned in closer, nearly whispering. "You know, don't you? He told you exactly what happened that night." Jeanette averted her eyes. "Tell me. And don't worry about Brittany. She already knows all that I know."

That surprised Jeanette a little bit. But then again, even though Alvin and Brittany fought a lot, they did spend a lot of time with each other. And with this joint venture between the two groups, they had to share things with each other.

"Simon said that you don't know your own involvement after you guys found Theodore." Alvin nodded. Jeanette sighed, still fighting back the tears and trying to keep her voice steady. "You didn't do anything to that man. Simon did it all."

Brittany and Alvin both looked a little unsure of what they heard. Jeanette just looked at Alvin, waiting for his reaction. She could see him thinking, and his eyes were becoming a little distant, probably reliving a few moments that he wanted to. He soon shook his head and his eyes were back in the present. "I don't believe that."

Jeanette shook her head and looked down at the table. "He's insistent that he was the only one who did it. And he blames himself for it and for bringing you guys into this business. Simon said that he holds full responsibility for making you guys miserable."

"Yea, it was his idea, but he didn't force me to do anything! And we both were covered in blood," Alvin muttered darkly.

"It doesn't matter, Alvin," Brittany spoke up with narrow eyes. "Simon believes that he was the only one. That's what he's thinking. It doesn't matter what the truth is. What matters is what he believes." Alvin looked away, a bit of anger showing in his eyes. He muttered to himself that he was going to talk with Theodore about it later. "Jeanette, what does this have to do about being a monster. Get to that so we can move on with our lives."

Brittany was growing impatient and she was just about ready to hunt down Simon and keep him tied up away from decent society. "He told me that he did what he did, knowing full well what he was doing and he was calm about it. He then realized that he was born a monster. He tries so hard to keep that side of himself hidden, thinking his actions through completely, so that it won't come to the surface. But he says he knows that it's there, waiting for to come out every moment of every day."

"Apparently, it's coming out a lot, now." Brittany shot Alvin a look.

"Why now?" Alvin ignored Brittany. He had other things on his mind instead of participating in a fight about how Brittany was right and Alvin was wrong about how he should have been dealing with Simon sooner, when the first incident happened.

"Duh, Alvin." Brittany started in. "Things have changed. For years, it was just you three and Dave. You didn't have any real friends or people that you hung out with. All you did was go to school and hunt. So he had two brothers that he had to protect because they were hurting and two that he could share equal pain with. But then, all of the sudden, you move to this place and you made friends."

"Forced to, is more like it."

"Shut up. Once that happened, Theodore began to stand up to you two and be his own person."

"How would you know?"

"Doesn't matter how we know. The point is, we know. Theodore had found a very good friend and wasn't going to stick to the same old stuff that you guys have been doing. Then, I hate to say this, you began to hang out with me a lot. Sort of like friends."

"Excuse me," Alvin leaned back with a smirk on his face. "We're dating."

"Only as a cover. I'd rather be dating Dave instead of you," Brittany shot back quickly.

"You do realize that even if Dave went for that, which he wouldn't, and you two happened to get married, then me and Simon would be your sons?" Alvin replied to Brittany. Brittany cringed a little and then looked back at her sister, but still spoke to him.

"Anyway, so the two people that he had constant in his life were drifting away from him. And to make things worse, you two are healing and wanting to heal despite what you've been through." Alvin rolled his eyes, clearly uncomfortable with Brittany's statements about their healing. "But Simon, thinking it all had to do with him, probably feels alone now. His world is in shambles. The guy is lashing out. And that means he's dangerous. To everyone."

Alvin had lost his smirk and was quiet, looking thoughtfully at Theodore. Brittany waited for a response, but Alvin didn't seem to want to give one. Brittany turned to look at Jeanette, who was still trying to hold back her tears. "Jeanette, I do not want you anywhere near him. He's ready to pop, if what you said is true. I'm certain of it."

"How are you certain?" Alvin put in.

"Woman's intuition."

Alvin scoffed and Brittany glared at him. Jeanette was a little confused, but figured that it was an ongoing fight between the two of them. "I mean it. I don't want you to get hurt, and he's a loose cannon right now. He's intentionally hurting people and he's going to the extreme to do it."

"He's not a monster," Jeanette spoke softly to Brittany.

Brittany put her hand on her sister's shoulder, feeling her uneven breathing and seeing her fight to stay in control of her tears. "I'm sorry, Netta. He is."

Alvin waved Theodore and Eleanor back over and they all squeezed into the both with each other. Eleanor was very concerned after seeing how upset Jeanette was, but she was hushed by Brittany and assured that she would be caught up on everything. Theodore was just as concerned, but he had been in the business long enough to know when things needed to be discussed. "So, what now?"

"Theodore, you and I are going to have a long conversation. We need to do something about Simon and we need to act now. For all of us, we're going to hang it up for a few days."

"What?" Brittany reacted. "We can't stop!"

"We have to," Alvin looked at her. Everyone was a little confused. They boys had never taken a day off. He sighed. "The entire town is against us right now. People will be flagging cops down to get us arrested. And those criminals on the streets are getting smart. We were trapped twice in a row, guys. So we're going to take a few days off, lay low, and use this time to actually be teenagers."

"No way are you actually going to do that, Seville." Brittany didn't believe it.

"Fine. I'm actually going to be doing research on a few specific targets. I want revenge."

Brittany nodded her head. The group eventually reluctantly agreed and all left shortly afterwards to return to their homes. On the way back, Jeanette had to think whether she made the right choice or not. She took a deep breath again and closed her eyes. She could see his smile in her head. She hoped that she would see it again, soon.

Page break for the next day Woot Woot!

When the girls arrived at school the next day, they were told to not even to stop at their lockers and to go directly to their homerooms. There was no time to talk and all students were pushed out of their halls and into their respective classrooms. It had been a few hours now, and lunch was coming up. Eleanor had talked to some of her other friends in the class, but she was growing bored. Occasionally, the office was paging the room and some of the students were disappearing.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Since the teacher didn't seem to care today that everyone was on their phones, Eleanor pulled it out to see who it was from. It was Brittany.

'_Cops are in school today!'_

Eleanor re-read the message again before replying, asking for more information. Her hand shook a little as she waited apprehensively for her sister to reply. The reply came fairly quickly, considering her sister took her time texting her normally.

'_They are taking statements from the students. It's about the Vigilante.'_

'_OMG! Do you think they know that they are in high school?'_

'_IDK. We need to talk ASAP with the boys.'_

'_Did you text Captain?'_ Eleanor was unsure about the police being able to trace text messages, so she didn't want to use names. She waited for her sister to reply. After five minutes, Eleanor sighed. Brittany probably didn't want to talk to Alvin any more than she had to. Eleanor looked through her phone to find Theodore's number.

'_Do you know what's going on?' _She waited a little bit before her phone signaled.

'_Yea do U'_. Eleanor quickly cursed herself for texting Theodore. She really did love him, but he wrote in text speak and she found that hard to read. What was amazing, though, is that Brittany didn't do that too often. Only when she was in a hurry. Maybe Brittany really did like English.

'_Yes. What are we going to do?'_

'_Stay cam & say IDK to evythng k'_

Okay, so that last sentence took a little bit for her to decipher. But she eventually figured it out. Theodore was telling her to just deny anything that the cops could ask her. She tapped out her reply message and then received another by Brittany.

'_He says to just deny everything.'_

'_I got that. I sent Theo a message. But thanks.'_

'_Did you tell Netta?'_

'_I will now.'_

'_Okay.'_

Eleanor searched her messages for Jeanette. She started a new message to her quiet sister.

'_Do you know what is happening?'_

It took a little while for Jeanette to reply. Eleanor rolled her eyes, thinking that Jeanette was probably reading a book and was really into it. The poor girl really was devastated about Simon, and Eleanor felt so sorry for her. Jeanette didn't crush on guys often, and the last one really humiliated her when she asked him out. Now she found a guy that seemed to want to at least hang around with her, but he was flying off the deep end. Jeanette had no luck with guys at all. Her phone vibrated.

'_No, I do not. What is happening?'_

'_Cops are asking questions about the Vigilante.'_

She didn't receive a text back from her sister. She could imagine Jeanette freaking out in her homeroom, not knowing what she was going to do or say and probably thinking that the cops had already found out who they all were and were closing in on them to arrest them. But since the cops were asking questions, they still had some time to try and worm their way out of this situation that they were in. Or at least, wait until things died down and everyone loved them again.

'_Calm down. If you get called out, just deny everything. Keep telling yourself that you don't know anything. You have to convince yourself of that. Okay?' _Eleanor had to attempt to reach her sister. It really was likely that Jeanette was having a heart attack right now. But if Jeanette was called out, the police might be able to tell that she was lying. Jeanette was horrible with lying.

It took another couple of minutes for Jeanette to reply back to her in the affirmative. Things really were getting complicated. Was this common for the boys? She remembered the warnings that the boys gave them. Could they handle it? Maybe they couldn't.

When lunch rolled around, the students were allowed into the cafeteria. Eleanor made her way in among the crowd, searching the tables to see if her sisters were there. They needed to talk with each other and come up with some sort of plan in case one of them was called in. As she took a few more steps in, she heard her name being called and saw Theodore waving at her from a far table. She could see that her sisters were there as well. Eleanor waved back and then went to get lunch.

She picked up her tray and got her food and went to her friends. As she got there, she could see that Alvin had joined and was sitting next to Brittany.

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?" Alvin shot at Brittany as Eleanor sat down in between Theodore and Jeanette. She waved to them both, ignoring the eldest of the group.

"We're not even actually dating, Alvin. And I am not breaking up with you. I broke up with you. Yesterday."

"What!? How do you break up with someone and not tell them?"

"Easy. What, does that bother you?"

"Well, yea! My status is going to take a huge drop now that I can't date girls for no reason."

Eleanor didn't really want to listen to them, but she couldn't help it. She had thought it was ridiculous that Alvin and Brittany had agreed to use each other as cover and it didn't really make much sense to her. Why would they even care? Well, other than the fact that they were 'popular' people. Eleanor was popular in her own way, just not in that crowd and she was happy out of it. They all cared about really stupid stuff anyway.

"Admit it, Alvin. You liked 'dating' me. And now you're jealous that I'm leaving you for Darren."

"He's the only other guy that would even give you a look! I did it to be nice."

Brittany looked downright offended. Eleanor took a bit of her food and then turned to look at Theodore. She had gotten tired of the fight between the two and there were more pressing matters that were on her mind. "Did anyone get called out yet?"

Theodore shook his head, but kept his eyes on the door. "Not that I know of. But maybe after lunch."

"It looks like they are moving alphabetically through the school," Jeanette leaned in. "After you brought it up, I paid attention to who was called down. If we're going to be called, it will be after lunch, once they finish with the 'M's' and move on to the latter half of the alphabet."

"Lucky for us then," Alvin turned his attention to the group. Brittany was looking rather angry, but then she straightened herself out and turned around from him. "What we need to do now is come up with possible alibis. Don't make them complicated. And make them in ways that the cops can't prove. Like, I was at home on the couch with Theodore that entire night. As long as Theodore says the same thing, the cops can't prove that we lied and they can't get suspicious. By the way, Theodore, we were watching television that night the cop was shot."

"That seems a little…"Jeanette started in with uncertainty, glancing at Theodore as he nodded and took a bite of his food.

"Don't worry, Jeanette. You were upstairs in your room reading that romance novel you keep on re-reading." Brittany gave her sister a smile. Jeanette blushed and looked down at the table.

"Well, I was looking through my Chinese cookbook. I am still looking for a really unique stir fry recipe," Eleanor said, winking. Brittany and Alvin smiled. But when they looked at each other, they frowned and turned away from each other.

The group turned their topic of conversation on to something else and they actually found that they had a pretty fun time being regular teenagers. And despite their difference in attitudes, they all were great company. Lunch was just about over when Theodore spoke up. "Where's Simon?"

Alvin turned around to see the door and then glanced around at the other tables. The girls went silent, all looking at each other. Jeanette still didn't want to see Simon and she was worried that the boys might have jumped him with some sort of pressing heart-to-heart that he just wasn't ready for. Brittany and Eleanor were just glad that the rain cloud had stayed away from their parade. They didn't need a storm.

"I can't believe I forgot! He's suspended, remember?" Alvin turned back to Theodore.

Theodore looked down and then at his brother. "Oh yea." Once again, when one of the Seville's wasn't present, it seemed like their whole group identity fell apart.

When the students heard the signal, the group said their goodbyes and walked off to their homerooms again. Brittany caught up with some of her friends and they chatted happily well after they were seated. Brittany avoided any questions about her and Alvin. She had decided to 'break up' with him for a very good reason. She wasn't going to get anywhere when every time she was with him, Darren would bring up Alvin.

After her friend Madison had asked her if she broke up with Alvin during that fight in the hallway, Brittany almost told Madison that they were still dating. But she caught herself. If she told Darren that she left Alvin for him, then that would really rocket his ego. Then Darren might be a little more open with his information. Especially after she told him a little something about the Vigilante. He was probably itching for anything, seeing as how the reward for the arrest increased. Therefore, in a split second, Brittany went from 'dating' Alvin to single. She just kind of forgot to tell Alvin. Or she didn't care. She couldn't decide which.

The PA system went off and a list of names were called to head down to the principal's office. Brittany listened to make sure that her sister's weren't called. But then she had her own surprise. She heard her name. The class playfully jeered her as she gathered her things and walked confidently out of the room. She had this in the bag.

Several of the rooms near the principal's office were cleared out. There was a table set up with an officer sitting at it and a few other students were in front of it, giving their names. The officer would then direct them to a room. When she reached the table, he pointed to a room behind him. She nodded and then walked in.

"Brittany Miller?" a woman asked wearing blues. She had red hair tied in a low bun and was sitting at the table. It was actually the conference room for the principal. Brittany smiled politely and reached out to shake the officer's hand. "I'm Officer Wright." The name stuck out to Brittany, but she couldn't quite remember. She must have given the officer a look, because the officer smiled. "I was here a little while ago for a student assembly.

"Right," Brittany nodded her head. "The assembly about vigilantism. I remember now. How are you doing?" She better get on the officer's good side before anything got too serious. But things were serious. She just hoped she could keep her story straight and throw off any suspicion. Brittany had to admit, though. Who was she kidding? She was the head of that stupid whistle program.

As she sat there, answering questions, she decided to pay attention. These questions could give her a lot of information and she needed that. By the end of the whole thing, she could understand that the police were closing in, slowly but surely. They had some leads. The most shocking, though, was that Officer Wright had three photos of the Vigilante that she didn't know that Brittany had seen. And Brittany could see the decals—one fork and knife, one pencil and music notes, and the other was the medical staff. They were on the trail. At least her sisters were safe. She hoped.

**It's getting late. But I am so close to that whole AxB thing. And my laundry isn't finished yet. So I'm just going to keep on plugging away, even though I need to wake up early tomorrow. So until next time.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Here we go. The last chapter that I can write for the summer. I will be back in August and I will definitely finish this. If I'm back before then, that means that I probably have failed big time with my goal. So you can be happy if I post before then, but I will probably be very upset with myself. I will post an author's note after this, just to remind people who don't read these author notes. Thanks for sticking with me this long and for the support. And PM or review me. I will try to respond after I get back. Thank you! So onwards…**

**WARNING: A lot of sexual suggestions in this chapter. It's just how it turned out when I wrote it. My bad.**

The next day, Brittany was in the hallway, out of the way of the traffic, flirting with Darren. She had a long conversation over the phone with him the night before, telling him that she couldn't forget him, even when she was with Alvin. And just like she thought, that stroke to his ego worked like a charm. The next morning, he found her quickly and they had been with each other every free moment during the day. He really became interested in her after she told him where the Vigilante normally hung out during the night. Of course she lied through her teeth about it. But he didn't know.

Since she 'broke up' with Alvin, the two just fought non-stop. He was picking fights with her and she was just getting frustrated. The cops were on their case and the whole Simon thing still wasn't resolved. Whenever she brought him up, Alvin was quick to tell her to shut her trap, which would start a whole new round of fighting. But nothing was as intense as their conflict where they actually fought with each other.

"What are you doing tonight?" Darren whispered into her ear.

"No, tonight is no good for me," she tried to flirt back as well as she could. It was getting easier for her to act interested in him, but she still didn't want to be anywhere near him. And the more she thought about why she wasn't okay with being close to him now, the more she just couldn't stand his behavior towards girls. He being one of the best looking guys in school just didn't matter anymore. Her ideal male had to be someone who was good looking and knew how to treat a girl—with respect.

"Then how about right now? We can skip class, head out the back, and we would be back before anyone found out." Darren pulled back and was looking into her eyes, trying to appear as sweet and kind as he could while promising something. She could say no and that her education really mattered or give him some other excuse. But it was becoming a bit of a problem around him. She's been putting him off for a long time now and this could jeopardize her whole operation. But she didn't want to do that. She hadn't done that yet.

"Can't hold out long, huh?"

Both Darren and Brittany turned their heads to see who had walked past them to say that. There were a lot of students that had passed by them. One was familiar. Alvin was walking away with his head held high, whistling. "What is your problem, dude?" Darren let go of Brittany and shouted out to Alvin. Alvin continued walking. "Asshole, I'm talking to you!"

Brittany turned to Darren and put her hands up. "Just leave him alone. He's obsessed with me."

"Then he needs to know who owns you." Darren looked her in the eye and she had to fight with herself. She had the hardest time biting her tongue just to keep herself from screaming at him that she was no one's property. He turned back to yelling after Alvin. "Seville!" Alvin stopped, a little ways down the hall, and turned around with a questioning look. "What the fuck is your deal?"

Alvin looked around him in a confused manner before looking at Darren and pointing a finger to himself. Darren, in annoyance, nodded that he was talking to him. The guy shrugged his shoulders and looked straight at Darren. "I have a bet going on about who's going to get detention next out of six other guys. But I don't think I have a deal going on."

"No, smartass," Darren began to walk over to Alvin. Brittany followed, trying to convince Darren to just leave Alvin alone. "I meant, what is your problem?"

Once Darren was right in front of Alvin, Alvin just kept his hands in his pockets and looked at him with a blank face. "I have a dick screaming in my face right now. That's kind of a problem. I'm going to be late for class, and getting detention by showing up to class late will make me lose my bet."

Brittany had to stop for a moment and then look curiously at Alvin. The guy bet that he would be the next one to get detention? He bet on himself. She shook her head. "He's just a moron. That's one of the reasons why I like you so much," she purred. Darren just pushed her out of the way.

"What did you call me?"

Alvin looked confused at him again. "I didn't call you anything."

"You called me a 'dick', Seville."

She could see Alvin put on his same old smirk. "No, I didn't. That would mean that you were the one yelling in my face and making me late for class." She groaned.

Darren growled and readied himself to stand his ground against Alvin. "Listen, Seville. You see this," he pointed to Brittany. "This is mine. She's mine because I'm more of a man than you are, and you need to stop poking around the things that don't belong to you. If you don't stop, then I'm going to make you stop. I have a whole gang of guys who just love to wail on pretty boy bitches like you."

Alvin looked very concerned for a moment, lowering his gaze to the floor. Brittany was amazed. Alvin had backed off? No, this wasn't real. Alvin Seville doesn't back down. He looked up with a sparkle in his eye, and Brittany's mouth dropped. She knew it. "I'm pretty persistent in my poking." Alvin looked directly at Brittany. That comment was very suggestive, and the look that he gave her made it more so, especially to Darren, the boy that had been trying to get with her but couldn't. She looked up at Darren to see him looking at her. He was going red in the face from anger.

Brittany backed away a little bit and then looked at Alvin, angry. He might have saved her from having to do something with Darren, but now Alvin made it a whole lot worse for her with that whole last comment. And now Darren and Alvin were probably going to fight it out.

Just as she thought that, Darren moved quickly towards Alvin. Alvin reached for Darren's arm, twisted it around, and brought it up behind his back. Darren hissed out of pain, and Brittany didn't blame him. That move hurt. Alvin didn't say anything and he didn't really look angry. But when Brittany saw his face, he was contemplative. Then, he smiled.

He jumped on to Darren's back and hung on while keeping a hold on Darren's arm. Darren began to move around wildly, trying to swing Alvin off his back. The students that were in the hall collected around them and they all started laughing. Alvin was laughing too. "It's like a rodeo!" she heard him call out.

Alvin managed to hang out to Darren's back for a while, calling out "yee-haw" and other cowboy things while Darren tried to get a handle on Alvin. But whenever he was getting a little close to tossing Alvin, Alvin just pulled on the arm a little bit to get him to stop. Brittany was simply mortified. She had never seen a school fight end like this, and it was because of her. Or at least that's how the rumors were going to come off as. She suddenly just heard Alvin telling Darren that he should probably buy a saddle.

"Okay, guys, break it up!" A teacher pushed through the crowd and then ended up, face to face, with Alvin riding Darren like a bucking bronco. Alvin and Darren stopped moving, just looking at the teacher. The crowd has gone quiet. "What's going on here?"

"Piggy back rides. I paid twenty-five cents for…"

The teacher held up his hand and looked at Alvin, fatigue in his face. "Why don't you just get off of Mr. Watkins?"

"Yea, I know!" Alvin jumped off and released his hold on Darren. Darren pulled his arm around and rubbed it. Alvin turned to look at him. "I want a refund." Darren's eyes grew large and he growled with an increase in anger. But the teacher called their attention back.

"Mr. Seville, I don't know what's going on. But I'm just going to go out on a limb and assume that you started it. Go to detention." Alvin looked at the teacher in shock, amazed that he would have to go to detention.

He went to turn around to walk down the hallway to get there, but he took a moment and looked Darren right in the eyes. Brittany held her breath. There was no way he was about to apologize to Darren for his actions. Alvin opened his mouth. There was nothing else that Alvin could say. He completely dominated that entire fight, if they could even call it one. "Thanks man. Because of you, I just got a hundred bucks." Alvin walked off, whistling to himself.

The students, after everything that had happened, dispersed, still laughing about what Alvin had done to Darren. The teacher let off Darren with a warning and went to leave as well. Darren looked dangerously at Brittany. She put her hands up. "I told you not to go after him," she began to walk away.

Darren pulled her back to him. "You gave it up to him?" Darren asked her harshly.

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"He seemed to think so."

"He thinks a lot of things. Let's go."

Darren held her still, squeezing harder on her arm. She wanted so bad to give him quick jab to let her go, but she needed to lay low, and if she showed she could fight, then she might fall under suspicion. "You're a tease," Darren pushed her away, causing her to stumble back. Brittany regained her footing quickly, and then stormed up in front of Darren.

"What!?"

"You heard me. You're a tease. I'm not going to deal with it. There are plenty of other girls in this school who will give it up. If you like me better than you like that ass, then you better prove it."

Brittany blinked, and looked around. She hated this guy more and more each day. But her intuition wouldn't let her just back off. There was something here. She knew it. "Prove it?"

Darren moved in and gave her a very rough kiss. "You know what I want. And I know that you want it. I can show you exactly what it means to be my property."

Looking back, she really didn't know what happened. She just lost it. She had it under control, and then she just lost it. There was nothing else that she could do to contain herself. He was really getting on her nerves about being property and just being nothing but a tool for his own pleasure. Darren just didn't take no for an answer, and she had that word flashing in neon lights around her. She had her standards. So she had no choice. She pushed the palm of her hand up his nose and, before she knew it, he was bleeding and crying and she was on her way to detention. At least she didn't get suspended.

She walked into the classroom, not looking around at the others who were scattered in there at the desks. Brittany walked up to the assigned teacher and told her why she was there. The teacher wrote down Brittany's name and Brittany walked down the rows, not caring where she was going to sit. She simply sat down and dug through her purse to find her compact mirror. She opened it and then let out a gasp in surprise.

She turned around and glared at Alvin angrily. "Don't do that!" she hissed to him. She turned back around, not wanting to talk with him or even acknowledge him further.

"So, what are you in for? Grand theft auto? Petty larceny? Shop lifting?"

"Shut up, Alvin."

"I know. You stole someone's mascara."

"I punched Darren Watkins. There, are you happy?" Alvin just beamed at her and she huffed, turning around in her seat. "What is wrong with you?"

"I thought you would be happy. I did you a favor."

"Making me the laughingstock of the entire school? Thanks, Alvin."

"I didn't make them laugh at you." Brittany turned around and gave him a glare. He looked at her seriously. "They aren't laughing at you."

"Yes, they will be. The most ridiculous fight in school was over me. That's how they are all going to see it, Alvin. So thanks a lot."

"You mispronounced 'awesome'." She didn't reply. She fixed her make-up, glancing up at the clock every so often. The day was just a few short hours from being over. All she had to do was deal with Alvin until then. After that, she was free. "Seriously, Britt. You owe me."

"For what? I was so close to getting what I wanted from him."

"He was also close to getting what he wanted from you, too. And he did give you a good piece of dirt, thanks to yours truly."

Brittany just looked at Alvin. She couldn't remember anything that Darren had said in regards to information that she was looking for. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing. Alvin waited, his eyebrows raised, expecting her to burst into gratitude or something like that. But she didn't. He sighed, and dropped his head on the desk. "He's involved with a gang, Brittany," he finally gave in. She heard him and then thought about it. He did say that he had people.

"I would have remembered that. I'm still mortified with how you handled the situation."

He looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "You're not too good at picking guys, are you?" Her eyes went wide and she started to tense up. Anger instantly bubbled up inside of her. Alvin didn't really seem to notice, or not even care. He continued on. "I heard you used to be kind of serious with the guy. How can you like someone like that? He's a total tool and all he wants to do is just get in your pants. You should hear what he says about you in the locker room. I'm probably the best guy you've ever 'dated'."

"And you're better? I've never met anyone more sexist than you are. Ever since we've met, you've done nothing but try to make me feel small and helpless and completely in need of a man's protection. But I've proven that I don't need a man. Also, where do you come off insulting his sex life? You've probably have scored with a lot more than him, just dropping them flat the next day. So how are you any different?"

Alvin just glared at her and she folded her arms, waiting for him to reply. She opened her mouth to egg him on, but he refused. "I'm done with that conversation," he muttered, leaning back in his chair and putting his arms behind his head, looking at the ceiling. Brittany watched him angrily, before turning around in her chair, feeling the triumph over Alvin.

The rest of the day ticked by slowly. Alvin actually stayed quiet and to himself, leaving Brittany alone. She had begun to feel a little bad, though, in her words to Alvin. When she did feel her guilt, though, all she had to do was think of all the times that Alvin forced her down, like when he first moved to the area and he told her that she should take up his offer for a date, since she couldn't get anyone better. Yea, he wouldn't have followed through considering what he does, but it was insulting. There was also a time that he rigged her pen to explode all over one of her favorite skirts, causing her to wear her short gym shorts around school that day. There were countless others that showed just how sexist he could be. Just one of those immediately made any feelings of regret disappear.

About an hour left in the day, Alvin got up from the seat behind her and moved to the front of the class to the teacher. Brittany acted like she didn't pay him any attention, but she was curious and tried to listen in. He was asking to go to the restroom. She resumed her boring activity of just doodling on a piece of paper.

By the time that she realized it, he had been gone for about ten minutes. But the teacher really didn't seem to care. She was starting to fall asleep at the desk. Detention was pretty much a joke in this school. Suddenly, the PA sounded over the school.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled classes to bring you this interruption," Alvin's recognizable voice echoed down the halls of the school, in the classrooms, and right into Brittany's ears. She groaned and put her head on her desk. Maybe this was why they never took a day off from their work? Alvin had too much energy. "Brittany Miller, I hope that this will change your mind about dating me." Her eyes went wide and her face went a deep shade of red. The teacher and the other students in detention looked over at her as she heard Alvin start to sing.

"The moment I wake up, before I put on my makeup, I say a little prayer for you. While combing my hair now and wondering what dress to wear now, I say a little prayer for you. Forever and ever, you'll stay in my heart and I will love you. Forever and ever, we never will part. Oh, how I love you. Together, forever, that's how it must be. To live without you would only mean heartbreak for me!"

The entire school was forced to listen to Alvin's voice as he sang through the entire song acapella. The only accompaniment that his voice received was a voice that was slightly higher than his, which she could only assume was Theodore's. Halfway through the song, they could hear banging on the door of the room that Alvin was in. He had to have snuck into the principal's office, after getting his little brother, and locked the door. Those Seville boys were in real trouble.

But she was flattered. Very mortified, but flattered at the same time. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she made him out to be. He did commend her, in his own way, about her skills in fighting. He had a way of distracting her when she was bothered by something. And they did make a great team, when they weren't at each other's throats. And she knew so many things about him that no one else knew. One being was that this offer for a date wasn't a lie. He had the time. And if he really did win one hundred dollars for a bet, then he had the money.

The song ended with Theodore letting the principal in and Alvin starting to try and schmooze things over. Then the PA was cut. Yes, as soon as Alvin was done with afterschool detention, she would take him up on his offer.

Page break

The date had gone exactly as both of them had expected. He was kind and thoughtful one minute, and then the next he was a living nightmare, doing something completely stupid just to make her mad. They had gotten kicked out of the restaurant that he brought her to after Alvin started to throw the food and try to catch it in his mouth, but it made Alvin smile, because it was after they had eaten and before he paid the bill. Brittany dragged him back inside to pay.

He brought her to a movie next. That was actually enjoyable for Brittany, allowing herself to lean in to Alvin with his arm around her. She had to think that she missed the way that his arm seemed to fit perfectly around her shoulders. And they both seemed to pay attention to the movie. He didn't attempt anything while in there, not even a kiss.

After the movie finished, they walked down the street together. Alvin was back to his normal self, picking on Brittany. And Brittany had to start her own fights as well, unable to just want to sit back and enjoy the evening. Her time in the movie theater, nestled next to Alvin, had made her feel that things needed to go back to normal and go back quick.

"I do pushups and arm exercises every day, Alvin. My arms are not flabby."

"I'm worried you're going to take off if you keep flapping them around like that."

"Are you sure that's not going to be you, rising up like a blimp? 'Cause your full of hot air."

"That would be my awesomeness. It can't be contained here on earth."

"There's a lot of you that can't be contained," she bitterly spat out.

"Looks like someone just can't handle me." Alvin gave a victory smile over at Brittany and she quickly shot her arm out and gave him a punch in the arm. "Ow. What was that for?"

"You're a moron, Alvin."

"Takes one to know one."

"What are you, five?"

"What are you, five?" Alvin imitated in a high pitched voice.

"Oh, real mature."

"Oh, real mature."

"I'm Alvin, the biggest douche in the universe."

"I'll admit I'm big, but I don't like to brag."

Brittany rolled her eyes and walked on with Alvin right next to her. He could so easily get to her, but by the end of it all, she really couldn't stay made at him or even hate him. Honestly, what was so different about Alvin compared to Darren, other than the fact that Alvin seemed to be a little more childish. No, a lot more childish.

She turned to look at her date, eyeing the clothes that he had one since that morning. They had decided to meet up right after school. She made sure to look at least presentable to him, and he just came out, shirt wrinkled, as if he slept the entire time. He probably did. She opened her mouth but then they heard a cry for help.

Both Brittany and Alvin perked their heads up, hearing the voice asking. They looked at each other. They had two options. One was just turn around and go away. The other was to charge in and take care of the problem. The latter one, almost instantly. The two ran forward and stopped just to check the situation out.

One male who appeared to be the target. One female who appeared to be the victim. Yes, they were going for it. Brittany ran ahead and jumped up, bringing her two fists down on the man's upper back. He was tall and very muscular. It was going to take a lot to bring him down. Alvin came up from below and gave him a good few hits to his stomach. The man grunted at the assault.

He was big, but he moved slowly. The two darted around him, giving him a couple of hits as they went. It was kind of funny that the two were just fighting one. They were almost playing with him, since they both felt that the fight was too easy. When the target had taken a few more hits and was wobbling a little, Alvin moved down. He was about to ram his fists into the underside of his chin, but Brittany called out to him to stay like that.

She ran to Alvin, and placed her foot in his hands. He seemed to have understood and he pushed her up and watched as she turned around in the air, upside-down, grabbed the man's head, and brought him down while she almost stuck the landing, falling down on her butt. The target didn't get up. Alvin stared at her with wide eyes.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed moving over to her. She got to her feet and brushed off her clothing. "Where did you learn that?"

"What?" Brittany looked at him. "Oh, I was a cheerleader before I started school this year."

"Hot." Alvin said.

"What did you say?" Brittany began harshly.

"Hot."

"Alvin, I swear to God that…"

"That was hella hot. I'm not going to lie."

Brittany pushed him angrily out of the way and walked back to where the two came from, all the while listening to Alvin laugh at her and then start talking about what he thought of her in her vigilante boots. His sexist side was coming out again. She looked down at her clothes and then stopped short. Her skirt was stained.

"Hey, let's go get some ice cream," Alvin said, sticking his hands in his coat pocket, walking past her. He walked a few more steps before turning around. "Hey, you want ice cream or not? Brittany?"

She just started at her skirt. She knew that she shouldn't cry over it, that things get stained, but she really did love that skirt and it made her feel so pretty to wear it. Now it was all stained. She didn't even notice that Alvin was now standing in front of her, looking at her skirt as well, but obviously not seeing the problem. "Brittany, as much as that skirt makes you look horrible, I don't want to stare at it all day." She looked up at him and pushed him back.

"It's stained!" She said, pointing at the spot. "This was my favorite skirt! I look fantastic in it, you just won't admit it, and it's stained. I can't walk around in a stained skirt. I'm going home."

"What!?" Alvin ran in front of Brittany. "I got detention for three weeks for that stunt I pulled. So we're going for ice cream. Who cares about your stupid skirt?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Brittany ranted to Alvin about it to a point that Alvin had to give in to her. Instead of ice cream, the two went to a nearby shop and Brittany went through to pick out a new one. Alvin just sat by the cash register, ready to die. But Brittany kept on bringing over one after another, asking him his opinion. He really didn't care and he just said yes or no, not paying attention. She seemed to make all the decisions anyway.

After she picked out the skirt, she was still shopping. It was then that Alvin realized what was going on, or was explained to. She was making an entire ensemble. What made it worse, though, was that this shop had no dressing rooms, so it took her forever just to get her new outfit together. And Alvin immediately regretted not just letting her go home. His betting money was just about gone.

Brittany then led him through the streets, trying to find someplace where she could change. Alvin followed behind her, moaning. She didn't listen to him. Finally, she had no choice. She had to change out of her skirt and clothes and into her new outfit. She stopped and looked around. Things were closing down and there weren't any public bathrooms or anything like that. Then her eyes caught it. It was a little seedy and dirty, but it would be her little secret. She went into an alley and ducked behind a dumpster.

"What are you doing now?" Alvin whined out, clearly done with all the fun.

"Changing. Don't you dare look over here."

"Who would want to?"

"I mean it, Alvin."

"Sure, sure." She heard him as she took off her jacket and her scarf. The night air was really cold, but it still was worth the look of her new outfit. She then kicked off her shoes somewhat gently, slipped out of her skirt and threw her shirt to the ground. She stood in the alley completely naked and she bent down, shivering in the cold, to get the first thing her hand could reach. But something moved out of the corner of her eye.

She growled angrily and moved back further behind the dumpster, as far as she could, so she wasn't actually standing in the garbage. She waited until she saw the movement again and she picked up her shoe, a pretty pick, high platform heeled pump, and said a small apology before flinging it at the shape. "Hey! You nearly took my eye out!" He tossed her shoe back over to her.

"Great! Keep your eyes to yourself." She finished changing as fast as she could and then emerged from behind the dumpster, feeling better about herself. She opened her jacket to show Alvin her new clothing, and spun around for him. "So what do you think?" She asked with a smile on her face.

He looked at the clothes and then up at her. "I didn't know you could look any more like a man." She huffed and then stormed off down the street with Alvin following behind her. "I didn't mean that, Britt. But I liked the second outfit better."

"You are such a pervert, Alvin," she continued on. It took him another ten minutes to calm her down.

Page Break

"Well, tonight was…horrible," Brittany breathed out, keeping her head high as she walked down the street to her house. Alvin was strolling beside her, his hands in his pockets, more interested in the houses that they passed by than her.

"Looks like we finally agree." His words rolled off his tongue. Brittany snapped her head, giving him death glares, waiting for him to finally notice her. He glanced out of the corner of his royal blue eye, seeing her ice-y blue ones. "What!? We agree on something. That's a good thing, Brittany," he elaborated.

"I hope we never do this again!" Brittany snapped, quickening her pace. Her home was now in view up the street.

"Damn right," he replied, keeping step with her.

"Good!"

"Great!"

"Why are you following me?"

"I'm not following you."

"You live back there, moron."

"I can't help it if I want to circle the block before I go home. I need to clear my head of all the not fun that I had tonight with you."

"Well, do it somewhere else. You don't have to do it around here."

"What, am I bothering you?"

Brittany spun around, just outside of the girls' gate, and looked at him intensely. "You would like to think that, wouldn't you? I just don't want to be around you any more than I have to be!" She kept her eyes sharp, standing up to him with her back straight, sizing him up. His eyes flashed.

"Glad to find another thing we agree on."

"Gee, it must kill you to have to spend every day with me." She had to stop herself. She just couldn't stop arguing with the guy, no matter what had happened between them. She really didn't want to fight with him. The events that had lead up to this date had really began to make her think that she wasn't just attracted to Alvin anymore.

"I _hate_ every damn minute," he put in darkly, pointing his finger at her.

Brittany opened her mouth to reply to him. It would have kept the argument going. But she just couldn't bring herself to say that she shared the same feeling. He was a jerk. A sexist jerk who really didn't seem like he could handle viewing a woman as his equal. But his domineering personality, one that she just had to fight against, was strangely intoxicating. He could be pushed down, but he would never back down. She broke off eye contact and looked at her living room window. The lights were on. She sighed. "Well, I guess I don't _not_ not hate you. You piss me off, but…"

He seemed genuinely surprised by her statement. He took in a deep breath and relaxed his body. "Yea, I don't _not_ not hate you. I just say stuff sometimes." He scratched the back of his neck.

"It might even be the opposite of _not_ not hating you."

"Right!" he exclaimed incredulously, with an annoyed chuckle. He was starting it up again. "If you don't _not _not hate me, why don't you prove it!?"

"Why don't you!?" she angrily rebutted.

He stepped in a little closer to her, looking rather angry at her. "Don't challenge me. And I told you first!"

She closed in the distance between them and stood her ground. "Yea, I can choose to accept, and I don't, so I won't. But what happened, _Alvie_? I thought that you _always_ won? You can't always win if you back away from challenges."

Brittany didn't have any time to continue her reply. Alvin's hand shot out and wrapped itself roughly around her waist, pulling her against him. His lips crashed down on hers and he held her steady. Brittany was a little shocked and unprepared for the kiss. But as the seconds went on, and he became gentle, she felt her body relax and lean in. Her eyes fluttered closed and she snaked her arms around his neck, holding him to her. She returned the kiss, their mouths creating a perfect fit. The kiss soon became tender and heartfelt.

She just breathed him in, feeling that for that one moment, everything was perfect and there were no troubles to worry about. Brittany didn't want it to end, but she had to pull away. She opened her eyes and looked up into his. She could feel her face blush a little bit and had to reprimand herself for even allowing a man to have that effect on her. He didn't seem to notice, however, as he kept her gaze and he brought his hand to her cheek, moving his thumb once across her lips.

He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, still looking into her eyes. "This is the worst night of my life," he muttered to her with a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

She began to move her face up, their lips moving closer together. "You are the biggest, most sexist jerk I have ever met, but you have to be the most charming one in the world." She closed the distance and kissed him again quickly, moving away to look at him.

He returned her kiss and murmured into her lips. "You are such a bitch. Too bad I like bitches."

"Too bad for you, or for me?"

Alvin opened his mouth to reply when a voice called to them from the front door. Brittany and Alvin didn't bother to pull away, but they looked over to see Eleanor standing there. She was demanding that both of them come inside and that there was an emergency. The world came crashing back down on the pair and all the troubles that they had managed to forget for an instant came rushing back to them. And now something else had happened that needed their immediate attention.

Brittany could feel her disappointment and she chanced a glance at Alvin, whose face was set seriously. She had to admit it to herself, that she really was not just attracted to him. She didn't have a crush. Brittany Miller was full on in love with Alvin Seville, and she was very sure that Alvin Seville was feeling the same for her. She heard Alvin tell Eleanor that they would be in shortly. They turned their attention back to each other.

"We're gonna have to chat later, Beautiful."

"Can't wait for our next fight," she smiled at him and pulled her arms from his neck. They gave each other a final look before walking into the house together, ready for whatever had happened. They would work and fight it out together, and with each other.

**I would like to thank ChipmunkfanNo.1 for pretty much this entire chapter. She was the one with the awesome ideas. I had the inkling to do something like that, but not on that grand of an awesome scale. I think it's a good update to leave off on. I will see you guys in August, and hopefully not any time before then. Until then!**


End file.
